Business Casual
by EndlessStorm
Summary: Steven Stone never became the Pokemon League Champion. He never became a known rock collector, either. No; instead, he is forced to walk the path that his father paved for him and become the next CEO of Devon Corp. Not knowing there's more out there, Steven is content with this boring life; however, that all changes when he meets a certain spunky brunette. Steven/May.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! So, here it is! My newest chaptered fic! Ever since finishing Safekeeping, I've been wanting to write this. Today, I finally sat down and started. **

**The atmosphere of this story is so different than Safekeeping, for so many reasons. First and foremost, Safekeeping was written with the premise that May and Steven had known each other for years and were very close friends. In this fic, they're just meeting and will be getting to know each other over the course of the story. **

**This is weird to write, as I'm writing it with the idea that Steven has never actually been a Pokemon trainer. Instead, he was forced to work at Devon Corp his entire life up to this point. So, this may greatly affect May's journey. The butterfly effect, and all that. **

**Well, I really hope you guys enjoy! As always, all feedback is extremely welcome. I love hearing what you guys have to say!**

* * *

"You'll find Mr. Stone upstairs in his office," the secretary said, lightly pushing May into the elevator despite the girl's protests.

She hadn't minded retrieving the Devon Goods. The Devon Corp scientist had been panicking and saying he didn't know how to get them back on his own, and May was a relatively strong trainer already, so she wasn't afraid to take on some jerks who were willing to steal parts from a corporation and Pokemon from their trainers. She wasn't a hero for doing it, or anything; she was just a decent human being, and it was something that any decent human being would have done. Plus, she wasn't just going to let Team Magma get away with it! She had a feeling they were up to no good and that she might encounter them again on her journey.

So, she really didn't get _why_ she had to _personally_ return the items to the boss of Devon Corp. Why couldn't the scientist she helped out have just take them back himself? Sure, he said that the boss would want to thank her personally, but... she really didn't feel that she had done anything special. Plus, she needed to be getting a move on! Mr. Briney had said that he could sail her over to Dewford Town tonight in return for her saving his Pokemon, Peeko, and it was already nearing sundown. She needed to make this quick, and she hoped that the president of Devon Corp wasn't a chatterbox.

She shifted her feet back and forth nervously in the elevator. She had only been on her Pokemon journey for about a week now, and she was already learning how nerve-wracking it could be to meet people in positions of power. Battling other trainers her own age wasn't bad, but when everybody older than her looked down at her as just a simple kid and underestimated her based on that, she struggled to maintain a professional aura. It shot down her confidence tenfold.

The elevator _ding!_ed as it reached the top floor, and the doors opened at a murderously slow pace. May stepped out quickly, the bag containing the Devon Goods hanging on her left wrist jumping up a bit in time with her bouncing feet.

Though the top floor was apparently _just_ Mr. Stone's office, there were several secretaries as well. One was sitting at a desk typing away, and two more were pacing back and forth from their desks over to the printers, where they nervously looked over papers. The room wasn't particularly... _organized_. May had expected a bit more order in the office of the biggest CEO in Hoenn, but hey, Devon Corp wasn't exactly _struggling_, so she guessed whatever worked for them must be fine.

She walked through the secretaries' area, ignoring the glances they shot her and heading straight up to the main office. The door was hanging open, but the man at the desk was standing and faced away, seemingly talking on the phone. May hovered in the doorway, wanting to knock but unsure of it if would be more rude to _knock_ and interrupt the phone call, or stand there silently and be basically _eavesdropping_ on the phone call.

Instead, she settled for coughing slightly, which caused the man to whirl around, mid-sentence.

"-and since we don't know the exact number needed," the man paused, his eyes revealing a bit of shock on his otherwise-calm face. He blinked a few times at May, and then cleared his throat. "I'm going to have to call you back, Gina. I forgot, I have to... uh, I have an _appointment_." He said his farewell, and set the phone back down on the receiver.

May stared at him in shock. She wasn't expecting somebody so... _young_. May herself was seventeen, and the man before her couldn't have been more than a few years her senior. He had shocking silver-white hair and dark eyes that she couldn't exactly determine the color of from this distance. He was wearing a purple-and-black suit. Was this really the CEO of Devon Corp? May wracked her brain, remembering all of the ads for Devon products that she saw everywhere- on TV, in magazines, and on billboards all over the region. Still, she couldn't ever remember seeing a picture of the president. Maybe if she had ever been interested in celebrity magazines, like her mother had wished she had as a teen, she would have known. Instead, she had been much too busy reading up and learning about all kinds of Pokemon and preparing herself to be a trainer.

"Hello," the man said gently with a kind smile, startling May out of her thoughts. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

The words made May's cheeks flush slightly, but she immediately shook herself out of it. No reason to be getting flustered right now. This was simply business. "I, u-uh... I have the Devon Goods," she stuttered as stumbled the last few steps into the office and held the back out. She mentally face-palmed. _Nice, May,_ she thought sarcastically.

The man hesitantly took the outstretched bag, looking inside of it and then looking back at May with a mix of confusion and surprise. He raised an eyebrow. "I... I battled Team Magma to get them back!" she clarified. Shit, had he thought that _she _was the one who stole them? She was sure that her cheeks were now a bright red. She had thought that talking to condescending adults was nerve-wracking, but talking to this attractive young man was so much worse.

The man still looked confused, so May took a deep breath to compose herself before she spoke again. "I'm May," she said, putting on her best smile and stretching her hand out to the man across the desk for him to shake. "I'm a trainer from Littleroot."

The man finally smiled and shook May's outstretched hand. "Oh! So, _you're_ the one I have to thank! I sent a scientist to retrieve them, but... he must have failed to. I never expected somebody so..." he trailed off and gave May a somewhat apologetic smile.

"-young?" May finished, and she failed to hide the bitterness from her voice. "I could say the same to you, _Mr. Stone._"

The man blinked, then said, "Oh! No, sorry. I'm not Mr. Stone. That's my father. You can call me Steven." He laughed awkwardly. "How rude of me. I didn't even introduce myself."

May furrowed her brow in confusion. "So, you're not... the president of Devon Corp?" she asked.

Steven grimaced. "That's... debatable," he said, and May raised an eyebrow in gesture for him to explain. "Technically, I'm the vice president, but over the past few months, my father has spent a lot of time out of the region. Therefore, most of his duties have been passed to me. I'm an only child, and my father doesn't really trust anybody else with running the company, so I've been left to do it."

"But that's not fair!" May blurted out, confusing even herself. It wasn't really her business, and she didn't even know this man, so why did that make her so angry? Still, she continued with, "He shouldn't just up-and-leave and expect you to do his work for him!" Steven stiffened, and May realized that she was probably crossing a line with somebody who she had just met minutes before. "Sorry," she mumbled, deflating a bit. "That's not really any of my business."

Steven smiled politely, saying, "That's okay." He changed the subject, adding, "So, you said you're a trainer? Are you taking on the gym challenge?"

May perked up immediately. She could talk about her journey for hours, even though she had just started it. "Yes!" she exclaimed eagerly, and a surprised smile crossed Steven's face for a split second. "I just left home a week ago, but I got my first gym badge today!"

"Congratulations," the man said, and May was shocked by how genuine it sounded. "It's great to see such potential in a young trainer."

"Are you a trainer, too?" May asked, feeling that it was only polite to do so.

Steven's smile faltered for the smallest second, but then it was back on his face as if nothing had happened. "I'm not," he said, with a sad resolution. "I have several Pokemon of my own, but they're merely my friends. I never went on a journey."

May wanted to press on and ask why, as it seemed that he was regretful about that, but had already learned her lesson about being nosy. "My Pokemon are my friends, too," she said instead, grinning. "I love them so much already, and I'm so excited about the road ahead." She knew it sounded cheesy, but she didn't care. She was finally getting to talk to somebody about her journey who actually seemed eager to listen; everybody she had met up to this point was either too immature or thought that _she_ was too immature to even give her the time of day.

Steven's grin grew. "I'm sure you'll go far." Then, he seemed to remember something, for he exclaimed, "Oh!" and started digging in a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a small box and handed it out to her. "Here. This is the newest version of the PokeNav. I'd like for you to have it to show my gratitude to you for retrieving these parts."

May took the box and stared at it in shock. The picture on it indeed showed the newest model of PokeNav, which hadn't even come out in stores yet, though it had been hyped up for weeks. They were supposed to be very expensive. May knew that most trainers had PokeNavs, but she hadn't yet been able to save up enough money to buy one for herself. Steven giving her this one was far more than generous.

She couldn't take it, though. She hadn't done enough to earn such a big gift, and she wasn't yet desperate enough to start accepting hand-outs. "I can't accept this," she said apologetically, attempting to hand the thing back to Steven and frowning when he refused to take it back. "I wasn't doing some great deed, really. You have nothing to be thanking me for. Anybody would have done it," she explained. When he still wouldn't take the box back, she dropped her arm and furrowed her brow.

"Not just anybody would have done that, May," Steven said with a smile, and May felt butterflies in her stomach at the sound of him saying her name. "Most people would have been too scared, or just too indifferent because it wasn't directly affecting them. But you're different. I can see so much potential in you, just from this. You care for other people, and also for Pokemon. Maybe you'll be the Champion of the region some day."

May felt her cheeks heat up once more and she spluttered. _Champion_? Sure, that was her long-term goal, but that was still so far away. Plus, it wouldn't be easy. She'd be competing with Brendan, who was already a step ahead of her, along with all of the other trainers out on their journeys right now. She wasn't even ready to think about being Champion, yet. "You're too nice," she mumbled, averting her eyes. The floor was white marble, and it met the seafoam-green walls at a mahogany trim. May couldn't tell whether she liked the color scheme or not, but it diverted her attention and allowed her to control her embarrassment ever so slightly.

"I just see potential," Steven said confidently. The room suddenly felt smaller, even though there was an entire desk separating him from her.

"I, uh... I should be heading out," May said uncomfortably, tugging on one of her pigtails and finally looking back up at the man. "It's getting dark out already, and I still need to make it to the next town tonight..."

Steven frowned. "You're leaving tonight? You should stay in Rustboro until morning, at least. It's dangerous out there at night."

May smiled, feeling some of the tension leave the room despite Steven's worried look. "You don't really know much about being a trainer, do you?" The question was light-hearted, but she still saw a pang of hurt on the man's face. "I'm not afraid of some scary bug Pokemon jumping out at me. Plus, I have a ride; I'm not walking too far."

A look of relief crossed Steven's face. May wondered why he cared so much when they had only just met. He didn't even know her, so why was he so concerned? "Where are you going next, then?" he asked, a little too eagerly. He seemed to notice this, so he added, "Just in case I need to get in contact with you for some reason."

May found that a bit weird, but still answered, "Dewford Town," then added, "And then Slateport next, probably," as an afterthought.

Steven smiled. "Perfect. I may be in touch. Perhaps I'll have you try out Devon's latest projects, so that I can have a trainer's perspective on how well they really work." Steven's grin gave nothing away, and May had no idea whether he was joking or not.

May laughed nervously. He hadn't allowed her to decline the PokeNav (which she had now tucked into the side pocket of her book bag), so she doubted he would let her decline the new technology if he really did offer it up to her under the premise of wanting her opinion. She should probably get better at receiving gifts, then. That is, if Steven was actually serious. Maybe he was just being nice, and she'd never see him again.

"Thank you again for the PokeNav," she said, half-mumbled, and Steven chuckled.

"You're very welcome. Thank you for rescuing the Devon Goods."

"Anytime," she replied, grinning. Behind Steven and through the large window spanning most of the wall, May could see just how dark it had gotten outside. She needed to get out and get to Mr. Briney's house before he thought that she had forgotten about him.

"Well, I'll see you around, Steven," she called, already rushing and half-out the door.

She had only made it a few steps out of the office before he called, "May?" She paused and turned around. He was now out from behind the desk and was hanging in the doorway. He looked as though he had something important to say, but then seemed to change his mind last-second, as he simply called, "May our paths cross again someday."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you guys don't hate me for updating too quickly. Literally, what even is my updating schedule. If you followed Safekeeping, you'll know that I sorta just update whenever the hell I want- but it was always somewhere between two and seven days, so never too long of a wait. **

**Thanks to everybody who's followed and favorited this so far, and extra love to everybody who left a comment! Knowing people's thoughts on my writing really inspires me to keep going and shows me what you guys want to see. **

**I forgot to mention last chapter that I'm switching perspectives each chapter. First was May's, obviously, and this one is Steven's! If Chapter One served to introduce who May is as a character, then Chapter Two will definitely do the same for Steven. I hope you guys enjoy! **

* * *

Steven Stone had not had a good day.

It had started out well enough- the sun was shining in Rustboro City, children were out playing with their Pokemon in the park, and everything seemed to be perfect. Steven made it to work without delay, and by the time he was upstairs in his office, his needed paperwork was set out and organized and there was a steaming mug of coffee on his desk ready for him to drink. Today was the launch of the new PokeNav Plus, and Steven's father was supposed to be coming back to Hoenn to host the release. He was supposed to come back and take all of the weight off of Steven's shoulders, at least for a little while.

Except that he didn't.

Steven called his father at nine A.M. sharp, just to confirm that the man was on his way to the airport and also to inform him that he had arranged for his ride and that everything was settled. There was to be a launch event at a Devon store in Lilycove city, where a few lucky patrons would be getting the new PokeNav for free. While Steven had had to make all of the arrangements and prepare for the event himself, he was glad that his father was coming back into town to host the event himself.

Except that when Steven called and asked his father if he was at the airport yet and the man responded with a lengthy silence, Steven knew that that wouldn't be the case.

"There's been a... change of plans. It turns out that I'm going to be staying in Kalos for a while." Mr. Stone laughed sheepishly.

Steven shut his eyes and used the fingers of his hand that wasn't holding the phone to press hard into his temple. "How long?" he asked. He opened his eyes and made eye contact with one of his secretaries, who was sitting at her desk out in the main room. She must have been able to read the annoyance in his eyes, for she jumped up at an alarming pace and quickly pulled his door shut with a _click_.

His father paused again. "A few weeks, at least," he finally answered. Steven couldn't discern the man's exact tone.

Steven hissed out the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. "You realize that the launch of _your_ new product is today, right?" he asked, trying to maintain a professional tone. He curled his fingers into a lock of hair and tugged, hard, in annoyance. It helped to ground him a bit.

"Well, son, it's _your_ product, too!" his father defended, and Steven rolled his eyes. "And I believe that you can handle this launch yourself. It'll be good practice, too, for when you take over the company!"

Steven had a lot of comments to make in response-most of them in relation to how maybe that's not what _he_ wanted- but it was an age-old argument and he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere right now. "Alright," he said instead, through his teeth.

The conversation didn't last long; Steven didn't have much more he could say. Instead, he had to hurry back to his apartment and get changed. He normally wore the same dress clothes to work, but as this was a dressier event, he changed into something nicer before heading out to Lilycove.

* * *

The event started at noon, and by the time he arrived at eleven, there was already a crowd outside. He ducked in through the back, feeling that it was going to be a long day.

And it was. Even after the promotional events were over, many patrons and reporters had questions to ask him about the new PokeNav, its features, and future Devon projects. By the time the store owners had shooed all of the curious customers out of the store, most holding brand new PokeNavs, it was nearing six o'clock.

As much as he wished that he could go home then, he still had to attend the dinner with the store's owner that he had originally booked for his father. Though the dinner was at a nice restaurant and the store owner was quite charming, Steven had to suffer through several hours of questions that were basically repeats of his entire day.

When he left the restaurant, it was only around nine, but he was already exhausted and ready to go to sleep. Instead of making the long journey back to Rustboro, he simply flew to his house in Mossdeep.

He had had the house for years, despite never being there. He really only stayed there when he was traveling on this side of the region. As he had to go to work at Devon Corp every day, it was simply more practical to keep an apartment in Rustboro. Still, it was nice having a place where he knew he could go if he ever needed to get away from his father. He was pretty sure that the man didn't even know that he still kept the place under lease.

The door was unlocked when he got there, and as always, he was shocked that it hadn't been raided by looters. Everything still seemed to be intact, though. The air smelled musty, and Steven grimaced; one of the disadvantages to having a house near the sea that you never maintained was that it took a lot of water damage.

Heading immediately to the bedroom, he emptied the contents of his pockets out onto his nightstand and stripped down to his boxers, climbing into the clean sheets. Despite the tiredness that he had just been overcome with, he found himself restless and unable to sleep. The sheets felt too cold, too lifeless. It was like he was sleeping in a hotel and not in his own house.

He must have eventually drifted off to sleep, for not very much later he was rudely awoken by a ringing on his nightstand. Only half-awake, he fumbled for his phone, first picking up his PokeNav instead (and cursing himself in the back of his mind for not yet having perfected the Match Call function on it; it would be so much easier to have everything programmed onto his PokeNav rather than having to carry a PokeNav _and_ a cell phone). He dropped the piece of Devon tech back onto the nightstand and grabbed his phone, putting it to his ear and clicking the "Talk" button to stop the incessant ringing.

"... 'lo?" he murmured, clearing his throat and rubbing at his eyes with one hand.

"Mr. Stone? This is Melissa from the Oceanic Museum in Slateport City. I'm calling to inform you that there's been a break-in, and also that some Devon parts were stolen from Captain Stern at the docks."

Steven sat up, his eyes shooting open. "... Sorry, who did you say you are?"

"Melissa? From the Oceanic Museum in-"

"How did you get this personal line, exactly?" Steven asked in the most polite way possible (which was probably not at all), swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment to check the time: 10:42.

"Well, Sir, I was directed to call your father, and he informed me that he was out of the region and gave me your number. He said that you would know how to handle this situation."

Steven took a deep breath, counting to three in his head before letting it out. He dropped his head into his hand, tugging at his hair. "I'll be there shortly."

Hanging up the phone, he pushed himself off the bed with a groan. He stared at his crumpled up clothes on the floor, grimacing. He hadn't touched the clothes in his closet here in ages, and was sure they all smelled like mothballs. So, he pulled on his black slacks and white dress shirt from the day and tucked his belongings- phone, PokeNav, keys, wallet, and three Pokeballs- into his pockets.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Despite it being past eleven at night when Steven arrived, Slateport was still lit up like a Christmas tree. From above on his Skarmory, Steven could see lights and a crowd around the Contest Hall, as well as around the Oceanic Museum. Steven landed outside the latter, and was immediately barred by a police officer standing guard outside the door before he could even call his Pokemon back.

"I'm sorry, Sir," the officer said, reaching his arm out and blocking Steven's way. "This is a crime scene. The museum is closed."

Steven closed his eyes for half a second, trying to keep his composure. "I'm Steven Stone," he said, despite hating playing the name-game. "I was called here to represent Devon Corporation."

The police officer's eyes widened as he seemed to recognize Steven. "O-oh, I'm sorry, Sir! Go right ahead!" He stepped out of the way, looking embarrassed.

Steven smiled politely at the officer before calling Skarmory back and pushing his way through the door. Inside, some museum staff were being questioned by more police officers. Steven spotted Captain Stern across the room and quickly hurried over to him.

Steven didn't want to be there right now; really, he didn't. But any time there was a high-profile crime related to a Devon product, a representative from Devon had to come and oversee the investigation. And, technically, Steven had the power to call another one of the higher-ups and tell them to go and take care of it, but it was late_ and_ it was a Friday night; most of the people who Steven could have called would be in bed with their spouses and ready for a weekend with their families. While Steven himself hated having to be here, he would have felt even worse forcing someone else to endure it.

"Captain Stern," he said when he made it to the other man, nodding and reaching out to shake the man's hand. "Steven Stone, from Devon Corp."

Stern shook his hand a bit hesitantly, eyeing him up. "Where's your father?" he asked in a gruff voice. Steven frowned.

"Out of the region," he muttered. "... on business." The second part wasn't exactly true, but Stern didn't seem to be the type of man to believe in vacations. Stern nodded and didn't say anything else, so Steven continued, "So, what exactly happened here?"

Stern leaned against one of displays and Steven's eyes widened a bit in alarm. "A gang callin' themselves Team Magma broke into my shipyard and stole some parts of mine. The parts I ordered from Devon last week, actually. Then, they fled to the museum, probably to steal somethin' else."

He stopped there, so Steven pressed on, "And then what?"

Stern shrugged. "There was a young girl here. I didn't catch her name. But she battled them. Kicked their asses, too. She got the parts back and then chased after them when they left."

Steven furrowed his brow. "A young girl? What did she look like?"

Stern seemed to think about it for a second. "Short. Brown hair, in pigtails. She battled with a Combusken."

Steven perked up immediately. _May_. Though he had only met the girl once, just a week ago now, she had been prevalent in his mind recently. He was unable to get her spark out of his head; even from just a brief conversation, he had been able to see so much potential in her and knew that she would go far. "Do you know where she went?" he blurted out. He took a second to compose himself. "Excuse me. You said that she chased after them? Did she follow them out of town?"

Stern frowned, perhaps wondering why Steven was so interested. "Uh... no. The police asked around town for a while, but apparently she just drove them out of town and then hung around by herself for a while. Went to the market, stocked up on stuff, and everythin'. Everybody in town is claiming to have seen her at this point; maybe they all want to say they know the girl who's making news for being a hero, or something. But she was also apparently stopped by that... Lisia, or whatever her name is. Down at the Contest Hall. Tried to recruit her for a contest, or somethin', but instead she fled town."

"She didn't stay?" Steven asked, frowning. What was it with May, leaving towns at night? Didn't she ever stay anywhere for more than a day? She must have, if she just got to Slateport today. He wondered in the back of his mind if she got her second gym badge in Dewford; she had to have. He didn't imagine that she would move on to Slateport if she didn't.

"Nope," Stern said, shaking his head. "I'd tell ya to go look for her on Route 110, but the cops over there already did that. Said she wasn't there."

Steven tried not to let the worry show on his face, but he must have failed, for Stern frowned and slowly asked, "Why? Ya know her or somethin'?"

Steven shook himself out of his thoughts and gave a small smile. "Excuse me," he said, ducking away and approaching the police officers, who were still gathered around some of the museum personnel.

They stopped talking as soon as he approached. They gave him a weird look, and he sighed. "Steven Stone. Devon Corp vice president."

Their faces brightened immediately, several of them exclaiming, "Oh!" and one of them patting him on his back and saying how much he resembled his father. Steven blanched. On one hand, he hated not being recognized; with as much as he did for Devon Corp, he was practically the CEO by now, and he wished people would stop underestimating him just because he was young (sure, twenty-one was a bit young to be running a business, but still). On the other hand, he would hate to go everywhere and be constantly stopped because people knew him from Devon, just like his father.

He would hate to be constantly compared to his father.

Steven got to work helping the police fill out the full report. They asked him about the ship parts that Devon had sent to Captain Stern, and asked what the gang- Team Magma- could possibly want with them.

"Well, they... they're really _just_ ship parts," Steven explained, a bit exasperated. "They really can't be used for much else. Unless Team Magma is repairing an old boat or trying to build a submarine, I can't exactly say what they would possibly want them for. Do you have any leads?"

The officers once again exchanged looks with each other, and again Steven felt a twinge of anger. Eventually, one said, "Just rumors. Some civilians say they've heard talk of Magma... reviving the ancient Pokemon Groudon."

"That's just nonsense, though," a female officer added.

"Perhaps..." Steven murmured, running a hand through his hair. "But if it's true?"

The same officer rolled her eyes. "It's not. Nobody even knows the location of the sleeping legendary. Plus, why would anybody ever _want_ to bring back a creature that once almost destroyed Hoenn?"

In the back of his head, Steven already had a long list of reasons. Instead of voicing them, however, he just murmured, "Of course. You're right." He pulled his PokeNav out of his pocket to check the time. After midnight, now. "Well, officers, if that's all you need from me..." He turned to go, but one of the officers reached out and touched his arm.

"Wait, Mr. Stone. One more question." He looked back at the officer expectantly. "The girl who was here earlier. Do you know her? People around town have been saying that she's a trainer named May, but it's hard to trust hearsay."

_May._ It really was her, then. Steven's heart seemed to beat just a bit faster. "I know of her. She was at Devon Corp last week. She retrieved the same parts as the ones that were stolen again today."

The police officer frowned at him. "Same girl, in two different cases of theft? Sounds a bit suspicious, to me."

Steven's eyes widened. "What are you- are you implying that she had something to _do with it_? Why would she _stop_ Team Magma if she did?"

The female officer shrugged. "Maybe it's a cover-up. Trying to get everybody's guard down before she strikes."

Steven felt himself filled with anger and a sudden need to defend the girl who he hardly knew. "I can assure you, she did _not_ have anything to do with this. That girl is nothing but a trainer who is working to become Champion and is being a Good Samaritan along the way."

The officer eyed him up suspiciously for a moment before shrugging once more. She popped a piece of chewing gum. "If you say so." She walked off, and it was only then that Steven realized that most of the other cops had dispersed as well. He was left standing in front of only one- the one who had said earlier how he looked like his father. He smiled politely at the man, who had tiredness in his aged eyes.

"Hope you're sure about that girl, son," the man said, sighing.

"I am." How could he not be? And since when did police start jumping to conclusions like that, and based on _what_? Simply the fact that she was present in both scenarios?

"If I were you, I'd be keeping an eye out for her. See what she gets up to," the man said. "We never got to reach her for a comment, but if you see her again, try and get one for us." He paused. "You _do_ think you'll see her again at some point?"

For the first time all day, Steven gave a genuine smile (albeit a tired, somewhat-sad one). "Yeah," he said. "I definitely will."

When Steven finally left the museum, he realized with dread that it would now make more sense just to go back to Rustboro. He had really been all over the region today.

He called his Skarmory out of its Pokeball and climbed on the back of it, starting his journey back to his apartment. They flew above the ocean, high enough that he could see the lights of the cities in the distance, but low enough that he could smell the salt in the water. As the sea spray hit his face, he closed his eyes and drifted off to thoughts of sapphire eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! This chapter... is much longer than I anticipated. Whoops. Half of this is just major characterization stuff, and I hope that doesn't bore you! I quite liked writing this (though I've found that I prefer writing from Steven's perspective). **

**Thank you so much to everybody for following, favoriting, and especially for reviewing. You guys are the reason I continue to do this. I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Verdanturf Town was not the most interesting location that May had visited.

She hadn't really even meant to travel there, actually. After beating Wattson in Mauville and receiving the Dynamo Badge, she had intended to go north and be on her way towards Lavaridge Town and Flannery's gym. Unfortunately, she had rushed out of excitement and adrenaline from her battle and gone _east_ instead, and didn't realize it until she was in Verdanturf. Her mother's words about her being an airhead were finally starting to make sense.

Though she was angry at herself, she felt that it would be stupid to have traveled all the way here and not have at least stayed to see what the town had to offer. Plus, it was late afternoon, and she knew it would be dark before she made it back to Mauville, so she might as well crash at the Pokemon Center.

First, she had wandered around town, hoping to check out some of the local businesses. Unfortunately, it didn't yield much; the town's small population didn't call for many shops. Instead, May got caught up with a girl who was crying because she couldn't reach her boyfriend, who was on the other side of a boulder in Rusturf Tunnel.

"I, um," May reached a hand out to awkwardly pat the girl's back. The action just made the girl sob harder. "Well, um, my Linoone knows the move rock smash..." The girl's head immediately shot up, her eyes widening through the tears.

"R-really?" she stuttered, quickly rising to her feet. "Do you think that would work?"

May wanted to ensure the girl that it would, but as she had only recently obtained the HM and hadn't yet had a chance to use it outside of battle, she wasn't able to. So, she just shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

The girl- whose name May had still not learned- excitedly grabbed her hand and started pulling her in the direction of the tunnel. May just barely had time to grab her bag as she was dragged away.

Once inside the cave, the girl directed May to the boulder and continued to shake her arm until May convinced her that she needed to let go if she wanted May to reach her Pokeball. When May succeeded to, she called out Linoone. The ferret Pokemon looked up at May in surprise and seemed to take a moment to let its eyes adjust to the dark. Once it seemed to be comfortable with its new surroundings, it looked back to May for instructions.

"Linoone, do you think you can use rock smash on that boulder right there?" May asked gently, smiling at her Pokemon. Linoone nodded its affirmative before turning to the large rock.

May could see Linoone rearing up for the attack, and just as it launched itself at the boulder, May reached out and grabbed the girl and pulled her backwards, stumbling a bit. When Linoone collided with the boulder, it shattered into thousands of pieces, scattering everywhere with a loud crash. May instinctively threw an arm over her eyes. When she lowered her arm, she swatted the air around her to clear the dust and to clearly make sure that the girl wasn't hurt.

Though she looked a bit startled at first, the girl's eyes quickly widened. May thought something was wrong and was about to speak, but then the girl ran past her with a shriek. May turned around just in time to see the girl leaping into the arms of a man who May presumed was her long-lost boyfriend.

May expected a quick embrace and then some expression of gratitude, or _something_, but after what seemed to be at least a whole minute of them hugging and May just standing there, she started to feel like she was intruding on something. She smiled to herself. Oh, well. She quietly thanked Linoone and called it back into its Pokeball.

May turned and started to head towards the entrance to the cave, but was immediately halted when the girl cried out for her to wait. She turned back around, and the young couple approached her, attached at the hip and grinning. May rubbed at the back of her neck awkwardly, hoping that this wasn't going to get too emotional.

The girl immediately reached out and gripped May's free hand in both of hers, startling her. "I cannot thank you enough," she looked back at her boyfriend, "You've brought us together. Plus, you've helped out everybody who wanted to travel in this tunnel! Now it's so easy to get from Rustboro to Verdanturf, and vice-versa."

May smiled kindly at her. "It was no trouble, really. I'm glad I could help."

The girl's eyes were wide, and May suspected that she was going to cry again. Her eyes widened just a bit more, and she reached into her bag. She pulled out a large stone, which she held out to May, who looked at it in surprise. It... was just a big rock. Despite her apprehension, May reached out and took the stone, her hand dropping a bit at the sudden weight. She smiled awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

The girl seemed to notice her hesitance, so she laughed. "It's an Aggronite. I want you to have it, as a thank you for helping us."

May frowned down at the rock, and then up at the girl. "An... Aggronite?" she asked.

The girl's boyfriend seemed to notice her confusion. "It's a Mega Stone that will serve to mega-evolve an Aggron, if you have a Keystone and your connection is strong enough."

Though the term 'Keystone' wasn't exactly familiar, it did strike a cord in the back of her mind. Had she read about it in one of her books? No... for some reason, she felt as though it was a newer finding.

Still a bit unsure, May smiled graciously and tucked the rock into her bag. "Thank you very much," she said.

"No, thank _you!_" the girl said again. "And- oh! I never even caught your name! How rude of me! I'm Wanda."

May grinned. "I'm May. It's nice to meet you."

The girl's eyes widened comically once again. "_May_? You're not... you don't happen to know a boy named _Wally_, do you?"

May frowned. "Actually, yeah, I do."

Wanda's face lit up. "That's my cousin! He's staying here in town with my parents and I! Oh, you have to come see him; he's so sick, and that will surely cheer him up! Even better yet, where are you staying tonight?"

May shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I was just going to sleep at the Pokemon Center and be on my way in the morning, but..."

"You can stay at our house!" Wanda was practically in May's face now, though she was still holding onto her boyfriend's hand.

May took a step back. "Oh, I, uh... I wouldn't want to impose..."

"Nonsense," Wanda said, finally taking a step back and waving her hand nonchalantly. "Like I said, it would make Wally happy. He's bedridden at the moment, though I know he yearns to go out and travel..."

Bedridden? May had just seen the boy this morning... though that seemed so far away now. He _had_ looked sick at the time, but she hadn't realized just how bad his illness was.

Though May was a bit apprehensive about staying over with Wanda, who was a tad too emotional for May's liking, she _would_ feel a bit guilty about not seeing Wally. Especially after what he had said earlier that day... he nearly asked her to be his rival, but he just couldn't get the words out. May felt bad for him; when she was his age, she had also yearned to be a Pokemon trainer, but her mother had made her wait until she was older. Wally's case wasn't exactly the same, but still, May felt empathy for the boy.

"Alright," May said, smiling (though it felt a bit forced). Wanda gave her directions to the house and May departed to finish her venturing around the town, as well as to give Wanda some alone time with her boyfriend.

May's "venturing" didn't last long, as the town didn't offer much to see. The Contest Hall was closed and looked gloomy. May ducked into a shop and bought some Potions and Pokeballs, but it was more for the sake of having something to do than it was for necessity. Afterwards, she just wandered around town some more to kill time.

Finally, when it was nearing sundown, she approached the house that Wanda had described. She hoped that Wanda was back by now, or else it would be extremely awkward for May to tell the girl's parents that she had been offered a place to stay.

She hesitantly raised her hand and rapped at the door three times, shifting her weight from foot to foot. After a few seconds, the door opened. A woman, who May presumed was Wanda's mother- and Wally's aunt- stood there; May was immediately reminded of her own mother. The woman stared at her in confusion for a split second before smiling. "Hello," she said kindly. "How may I help you?"

Once again, May shifted uncomfortably. "Hi," she said, smiling weakly. "I'm-"

"Is that May?" a voice cried, and suddenly a green-haired boy was at the door and shoving the woman aside.

"Wally," May said, her awkward smile still in place. "I thought you were... bedridden."

The boy's aunt frowned at him and pushed him farther inside. "He's _supposed_ to be in bed," she said in a scolding tone, giving Wally a warning stare. He shrunk a bit, but still kept his eyes glued on May.

"May's the one who taught me how to catch a Pokemon, Auntie!" Wally cried, seemingly trying to defend his excitement. May was still standing outside, unsure of whether or not she should interject.

"Oh!" the woman cried, a smile returning to her face as she immediately pulled May into the house. The handsy-ness obviously ran in the family, then.

May was welcomed in as if she were a part of the family. Wally's uncle, who May had met earlier in the day, asked her how her gym battle had gone. They invited her to sit and eat dinner with them, and over the meal, she explained how she had helped Wanda to reunite with her boyfriend. In the back of her head, she was thinking about how it was Wally's uncle, Wanda's father, who had given May rock smash in the first place. That meant that he had had the power to help Wanda the whole time, and had just chosen not to.

When Wally started to beg her for tales of her travels and his uncle told him to go back to bed, May started to wonder about the overprotectiveness of this family.

May's dad hadn't ever been around much, even when they lived in Johto, so she had never really had to worry about him being overprotective. And while her mom had kept her at home for years after May was ready to go out and travel, it wasn't exactly because of that. Though she knew her mom would never say it out loud, May suspected that she wasn't quite ready to let go and be left alone yet. She couldn't imagine her parents _never_ letting her go and follow her dreams.

Her thoughts drifted to Steven Stone for half a second before Wally, who had yet to leave the table, interrupted her daydream to ask when she was planning to take on Flannery.

May indulged Wally's questions for a while, after which his aunt and uncle forced him into bed (which he only complied with after May promised she would still be there in the morning). Wally's aunt later asked her what her plans were; she assured them that she would be off their couch and out of their hair by the morning.

"Nonsense!" Wally's aunt said, eerily similar to her daughter. "You can stay here for as long as you'd like, dear. And I'd encourage you to stay longer! The Verdanturf air is good for you, you know," she bobbed her head, smiling contently, "It would due good for a young trainer like you, who's surely stressed out."

"I don't know..." May said, trailing off. She was eager to get out of here and reach Lavaridge Town. Then again, being too eager and getting out of a town too quickly was what made her take a wrong turn and end up in Verdanturf in the first place. Maybe that was the universe's way of telling her to slow down; to take a breath of fresh air.

"Come on," Wally's aunt smiled. "There's a lovely little cafe over near the Contest Hall. They make the best cookies in the entire region; I'd bet my life on it. It'd be a shame if you left town before you tried one. Unfortunately, they're closed now and don't even open until afternoon, so it'd mean you'd have to stay an extra day..."

May knew it was just a ploy to get her to stay in town longer, as it made Wally happy, but she smiled and gave in. "Okay."

Wanda arrived home late into the night, after all of the lights in the house had been turned out and May was pretending to be asleep on the couch in the living room. She heard as the girl tried to sneak into her bedroom unnoticed, and also as her parents opened their door and began scolding the girl. May wasn't sure what side she was on; on one hand, Wanda's parents had every right to be angry at the girl for being home so late, but on the other, Wanda had finally been reunited with her boyfriend and it was understandable that she had lost track of time. Nevertheless, May had continued to pretend that she was asleep and ignore the whole thing. After the shouting died down and the street lamps outside stopped flickering, May finally managed to drift off to sleep.

* * *

The next day, May found herself being shoved out of the house by a very determined aunt. May hadn't realized that the woman actually expected her to go to the cafe, but apparently she did.

Wally's uncle had gone to work for the day, and while May had asked his aunt to join her on her the outing, the woman said that she had to stay and care for Wally. The boy was once again too ill to get out of bed; his uncle blamed his little "trip" to Mauville the day before, and May was immediately overcome with guilt. She resolved to bring home some of the "famous" cookies back for Wally and his family.

When May reached the cafe, which she had somehow overlooked yesterday, she realized that it was more than just a "cafe;" it was a full-fledged restaurant. That people sat down and were waited on in. So, it wouldn't be as simple as just going in and picking up some pastries to go. May considered just skipping the experience and telling Wally's aunt that she had gone, but she was determined to bring back something for the sickly boy.

Standing outside and looking in, May suddenly felt self-conscious. Though she had never considered herself the type to be embarrassed at the prospect of eating alone in a sit-down restaurant, she had never exactly been faced with the situation first-hand, either. She quickly wracked her brain for a list of friends; she was embarrassed to realize that the list wasn't very long. Before her journey, she had spent most of her time inside, reading.

She would call Brendan, but she had no idea where he was at this point. He was probably already in Lavaridge; for all May knew, he might have already gotten his fourth badge. She seethed at the thought. The only other person she could really call a "friend" was Wally, who had already been ruled out. She pursed her lips and began to walk away from the place.

Then she had a thought. '_Now it's so easy to get from Rustboro to Verdanturf, and vice-versa!'_

She could call Steven Stone. He was really just a few minutes' walk away. That was so weird to think about. Though it had been less than two weeks since she met the man, it seemed like she had traveled so far to get here.

Suddenly, she was embarrassed with herself for even considering it. Why would she call Steven? They weren't friends, or anything. They had only talked once, and it was over business. But maybe he'd be interested to hear about what had happened in Slateport a few days before... that _had_ been related to Devon Corp products, so maybe he'd find it important?

Or maybe he'd laugh in her face.

_You'll never know unless you try,_ a voice in her head prompted.

May steeled herself and headed towards the Pokemon Center.

* * *

While May had her Pokemon checked out by the nurse, she sat by the phone and flipped through the phone book. It was right there, listed under D. "Corporation, Devon." In subscript underneath, a footnote clarified, "Rustboro City." Below the listing, there were similar listings, but in different locations. After May triple-checked to make sure she had the right one, she dialed the number into the pay phone with shaky fingers.

A woman answered. "Hi! You've reached Devon Corp in Rustboro City. How may I direct your call?"

May hesitated, unsure if she should list a specific department, or something. "Uh... may I talk to Steven Stone?"

There was a pause, and for a moment, May wondered if the woman had hung up, thinking it a prank call. Then, she said, "Of course, ma'am," and there was a click. Elevator-type music played for a few seconds before there was another click.

"Steven Stone," a voice said, and it entranced May immediately.

She paused for a few seconds before the man on the other line coughed uncomfortable, and she realized that she should probably say something. "Hi! Um, this is May. We met a few weeks back? At Devon Corp? I helped-"

"May!" Steven said happily, his voice taking on a much lighter tone. "Hello! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good," May said, smiling to herself and sitting back against the wall. His lighthearted tone helped her to relax. "Listen, Steven, I'm sure this is out of the blue and probably really weird, but would you like to get lunch?"

Steven paused for a second. "Sure," he said eventually, and May hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. "I think I'm available next-"

"I meant today," May said quickly, biting her lip. Of course he was probably busy; he was running a company.

There was another hesitation. "Oh... of course," Steven said. May wondered what he was doing. Did he talk with his hands, even when it was just over the phone? Did he tap his fingers, or play with his hair? Was May weird for wondering these things? "Where are you, exactly?" he asked.

"I'm in Verdanturf," May said, and the silence that followed reminded her of something. "Oh! The boulder blocking Rusturf Tunnel is gone, so it's a quick trip over to Verdanturf. That is, if you don't mind a few minutes in a cave," she added.

"Wait- it's _gone_?" Steven asked in astonishment, and May imagined him furrowing his brow. Jeez, why was she so hung up with him?

"Yeah," May said sheepishly, grinning to herself. "Long story. So, are you interested, or...?"

"I'm definitely interested," Steven said, and May tried not to let the words get to her. "I can be there shortly."

May quickly recited the address of the restaurant before hanging up. She retrieved her Pokemon- Combusken, Linoone, Swellow, and Beautifly- from the nurse before rushing over to the cafe.

As she stood in front of the restaurant waiting for Steven, May suddenly wished she had spent more time getting ready. She was just wearing a variation of her regular traveling outfit, while the rest of her clothes were being graciously washed by Wally's aunt. Her hair was down rather than in her normal pigtails, and she tugged her fingers through it, wishing desperately for a comb. Though the restaurant looked relatively casual, and this wasn't a _date_, or anything, she was sure that Steven would be dressed to the nines and make her pale in comparison.

When the CEO showed up, sure enough, he was dressed up. He still smiled at her and looked her up and down, causing her cheeks to flush. They exchanged quick greetings before going inside.

They were seated instantly, and Steven gave her a sweet smile as she started to feel embarrassed and started to wonder why she thought this was a good idea. The waitress brought them glasses of water, and May swirled her straw around in her cup.

Steven cleared his throat. "So, May, did you get the Knuckle Badge in Dewford City, then?"

The question stirred her from her thoughts, and she looked up, embarrassment suddenly gone as she burned with pride. "Yep! And the Dynamo Badge from Mauville, too."

Steven beamed. "That's wonderful. And... er... why exactly are you in Verdanturf? Shouldn't you have headed on towards Lavaridge Town next?"

May grinned sheepishly. "I... got a little ahead of myself. I was in a hurry to get out of Mauville, and I read the signs wrong."

Steven frowned, looking a bit concerned. "You should be more careful. You could have ended up stranded somewhere!"

May rolled her eyes. She hadn't expected a chastising from _Steven_. "I already told you this; trainers aren't scared of stuff like that. With my Pokemon around, I'll always be safe!"

The silver-haired man didn't look like he exactly agreed with that, but he didn't press the matter. "Very well. I trust that you know what's best for your own well-being. So, then, how do you like the PokeNav Plus?"

They talked casually as the waitress took their orders- the menu wasn't very diverse, and many of the titles were of local cuisine that May was unfamiliar with, so she just ordered a grilled cheese- and even on after she brought out the food. As she dropped off the order, May asked her to bag up a selection of the restaurant's pastries to bring back to Wally. Steven raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, and May explained Wally's situation to him.

The man's expression softened. "I see. Well, it was very kind of you to help him catch a Pokemon. Was it really worth it, though? If he'll never be able to go out and travel?"

May frowned. "There's always hope, Steven. Even if his illness lasts ten more years, even if it takes that long to find a cure, he could still go and travel. He'd just have a late start. It's never too late to start your journey; if you love Pokemon, then your travels are just as worthy at age thirty as they are at age ten."

Steven was quiet after that, looking a cross between intrigued and perplexed. He seemed to really be considering the notion.

May felt the uncomfortableness in the air, and attempted to shift the conversation. "So, about the real reason I called you here..."

Steven's eyes flicked up. His expression was unreadable. "The _real_ reason?" he asked. Was May just imagining it, or was there just a hint of hurt in his tone?

Even though talking about the incident in Slateport wasn't _really_ May's priority for this lunch, she wasn't ready to tell Steven that. If it looked like she had a reason, then he wouldn't get the wrong idea; the idea that Steven might start to get the wrong impression of May and think of her as some love-struck teenage girl was nauseating.

May took a sip of water and ran her fingers through her hair; she wasn't used to having it loose like this. She didn't miss how Steven's eyes caught the action and focused in on it. "There was... an incident. In Slateport city, at their Oceanic Museum."

A flicker of _something_ flashed across Steven's eyes for a fragment of a second before he masked it with perfectly-feigned confusion. "What kind of an incident?" he asked. May narrowed her eyes. Did he already know? Why would he lie about it?

Two could play at that game, then. "Oh, just something I heard about while in town," May lied, waving her hand dismissively despite the fact that she had just hyped up the scenario. "There was a break-in at the museum. Something was stolen, I believe." She left out the fact that she knew _who_ broke in, _what_ was stolen, and had a general idea of _why_.

Steven also narrowed his eyes. "Oh, really? And how did you... _hear about_ this situation?"

He was calling her bluff. "Just from gossiping tourists," she said, with a sickly sweet smile.

Steven flattened his hands on the table. "Why are you lying, May?" he asked, smiling. She wasn't sure exactly how sarcastic the smile was.

"Why are _you_?" she challenged. "And how did you already know?"

Steven deflated a bit. He sat back in his chair. "Whenever an incident occurs involving major Devon goods, somebody from there has to give a statement for the investigation. By the time I got to Slateport, you were already gone. The cops said they couldn't track you down."

_Oh._ May smiled uncomfortably, biting her lip. "Oh, well, I... I was in a hurry to get to Mauville."

Steven studied her for a few seconds, his eyes not revealing anything. "I'd like to believe that."

May frowned. Her heart seemed to stop for a second. "In what scenario would you _not_?"

He grimaced. "Well, not everybody is... so _inclined_ to believe that you're just a Good Samaritan. It looks a bit suspicious that you were in the same place as the stolen Devon goods in both cases."

May flew to her feet, slamming her hands down on the table and causing Steven to jump in alarm. He looked around them nervously, checking to see if the outburst had drawn other customers' attention; somehow, it hadn't seemed to. He gestured for her to sit down, still looking a bit shocked. May deflated and lowered herself back into her seat, still chewing on her bottom lip in frustration. "But I _returned_ the Devon goods to you," she hissed. "Why the hell would I be involved with Team Magma?" she spit.

Steven cringed, looking apologetic. "That's what I told the police."

"The _police_?" May cried. She buried her head in her hands and tugged at her bangs. "This is what I get for trying to help out," she mumbled into her hands.

Despite the situation, Steven chuckled. May's head snapped up so she could glare at him, which halted the sound immediately. "Sorry," he said, with a smile. "You just fascinate me. I get the feeling that despite this information, you won't hesitate to fight against Team Magma if you're given the chance again."

Though her heart was beating fast and anxiety was pooling in her stomach, May smiled and clenched one hand into a fist. "Absolutely."

Shortly after, the waitress came out with May's to-go bag and the bill, which Steven ripped off the table just as May's fingers scraped for it. She gave him an icy stare. "I can pay for myself, you know."

Steven smiled. "How gentlemanly of me would it be to let you do that?"

He seemed to realize that was the wrong thing to say, as his expression fell when he saw the look on May's face. "Chivalry is dead," she ground out. "Plus, I invited _you_; I should pay."

Still, he held the check out of her reach. "Okay, how about this: you let me pay because I have a job and you're a Pokemon trainer on her journey? I understand that you make money from battles, but you still have to feed yourself and your Pokemon, along with buying all of the other battling necessities."

May frowned, but she didn't argue, and after a second, Steven grinned. He called the waitress over and handed her a credit card, which she ran and then brought back, smiling and telling them to have a good day.

By the time they left the restaurant, the sun was already starting to get low in the sky. May was startled, not having realized so much time had passed. "Oh, shit," she said, looking at Steven apologetically as he slid on his sunglasses. "I didn't mean to keep you for so long. I'm sure this was much longer than your normal lunch hour," she apologized.

Steven just smiled at her. "Don't be sorry. It was a delight. Oh, and," he paused, pulling out his wallet and pulling out a business card, which he handed to her, "Here. The second number on there is my personal phone. Just in case you ever wanted to get lunch again. Or," he added, seeming to backtrack over his words, "I-if something happens with Team Magma again."

May grinned. Despite the awkwardness that she had felt at the beginning of their meeting, she was now beginning to feel comfortable around the man. "Will do," she said, and shoved the card into her shorts pocket.

Far off in the distance, May could see smoke. For just a moment, a bright light flashed across the sky, mixing in with the smoke. May frowned, and Steven followed her gaze. "That's Mt. Chimney," he said softly, sounding perplexed. "I wonder what's going on there."

May could already feel her fingertips buzzing, and she shook her hair out of her face and grinned. "Looks like I've found my next stop."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the wait! My life recently has been composed of a lot of watching X-Files marathons and playing The Last of Us, so I was procrastinating a bit on this. Whoops! **

**Thanks to everybody for supporting this fic! As always, extra love to the reviewers; without you guys, I'd have no idea how I'm doing. Every comment, even if just a short sentence, really means so much. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

Steven had never considered himself a worrier before, and so the anxiety he felt on account of May was unfamiliar.

After Steven had pointed out that there was possibly trouble up on Mt. Chimney, the girl immediately took it upon herself to assume the position of the savior, once again. She said that she just _must_ find out what was going on, and she promptly thanked Steven for lunch before taking off in the direction of, Steven presumed, her host family's house.

"Wait!" Steven called, a bit flustered. He pulled his sunglasses off of his face and jogged the few steps it took to catch up to the young girl, who was bouncing on her toes.

"Yeah?" May asked, throwing a quick, anxious glance back in the direction she had been running.

"It could be dangerous," Steven said, and he felt like a broken record. They had had this conversation before, right? From the annoyed look that crossed May's face for a moment, he assumed that they had.

"I know," May said without hesitation, and she sounded like she had no problem with that.

Steven took a deep breath. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from going on a rant about how she needed to be more cautious and stop rushing into things head-on. He wasn't her dad, or her boyfriend, or anything; they were barely even friends, so it wasn't his place to try to tell her what to do. Even if he did, he knew with complete certainty that she wouldn't do it. She was truly a free spirit, and he knew that she'd do whatever she wanted to if she set her mind to it.

"It'll take you a week to get there on foot," he said weakly, knowing that it was futile.

"Really?" May asked, frowning. Half a second later, her face lit back up. "Oh! Rydel at Rydel's Cycles in Mauville City offered me a bike free of charge for advertising! I told him I'd come back some time because I couldn't decide if I wanted the Acro Bike or the Mach Bike. But that'll be perfect! How long will it take on a bike?"

Steven frowned, his heart sinking into his stomach. "Pr-probably until tomorrow night."

"Perfect!" May grinned.

Though Steven felt defeated, he couldn't deny that he felt warm at the huge smile on May's face. She was still bouncing her feet, and Steven's eyes focused on her hand as her fingers curled nervously around the frills on her jean shorts.

"I need to get a move on if I want to make it back to Mauville by the time it gets dark," May mused, and suddenly Steven was eager to let her go, hoping that she'd be able to do just that. They said their farewells, and the girl took off once again. Steven had to forcibly tear his eyes away from her retreating form.

* * *

The next night, Steven left work early under the excuse of a headache. Though he _did_ have a migraine, it was far from bad enough to go home. He was just tired and getting increasingly anxious about May.

He had told his workers to keep tabs on any contacts near Mt. Chimney, and to report to him immediately if there were any signs of suspicious activity up there. Still, nobody heard a word. He wished desperately that he had May's phone number (did she even have a phone?), or that he had told her to call him once everything was resolved.

By the time he made it back to his apartment, he was even more exhausted. The simple action of raising his hand to turn the key in the lock felt like bench-pressing weights. He flipped the switch inside the door and watched as his apartment lit up, the brightness stinging his darkness-adjusted eyes and making him blink several times.

He walked to the thermostat and turned the air conditioning up several degrees, simply to hear the sound of the air kicking on and making the flat less silent. Then, he robotically made himself some herbal tea- in the new-age way of using the microwave, not the kettle, and he could practically _feel_ his father frowning at him in disapproval.

Steven took the steaming mug with him to his room, where he flipped on the TV hanging on the wall opposite his bed. A news show was playing, but Steven just wanted it on, similar to the air conditioning, for the background noise. He set the mug on top of a magazine on his bedside table and stripped down to his boxers. With the air turned up in his apartment and making the room chillier, he also pulled on a pair of sweatpants before flopping onto his bed.

He leaned over the side to dig his phone out of the pathetic pile of clothes on his floor, but snapped his head up in shock when he heard a familiar voice coming from the TV. With a shaking hand and without tearing his eyes away from the screen, he fumbled around on his nightstand until he found the TV remote. He turned up the volume, eyes wide.

"So May, tell us again about what the rebel group was doing up here," a somewhat-familiar female reporter said. "For our viewers just tuning in, this young girl, Trainer May from Littleroot, has saved the Hoenn region from a possible catastrophe." the hostess threw a sugary-sweet fake smile at the camera.

May stood there, looking uncomfortable but also looking like she was trying to ignore it. She laughed nervously at the question. "U-uh, well," she stuttered, smiling (though it looked forced). "They call themselves Team Magma." Steven looked the girl's pixelated form up-and-down, his tea forgotten. Though she was in what he assumed were her normal travel clothes- the clothes she had been wearing on their first encounter- they looked singed and dirty. There were flecks of black all up and down both her arms and legs, probably from soot. Her pigtails were messed up, and there was a long cut down her right cheek. Steven clenched his fist.

"They stole a Meteorite from Meteor Falls," May continued, and Steven remembered, _Oh, yeah, I should probably listen to this._ "And they had this- this _machine_ thing," the camera cut to an image of the machine in question for a few seconds, "and they put the Meteorite in it. I think they- they wanted to make the volcano active again, or something. He also said something about..." May looked off to the side, seemingly unsure about what she wanted to say.

"About what, May?" the reporter prompted.

"About how the power of the Meteorite could make a new Mega Stone and Key Stone," she finished, and the reporter's eyes went wide.

Steven ground his teeth. A new Mega Stone? Mega Stones were new technology that nobody here knew much about. They were an item that a Pokemon held and, if their trainer possessed a Key Stone and a powerful enough bond, they could go to a stage _past_ their final evolution; a stage in which they were able to reach full power and full potential. Very few people had them in Hoenn; they were all higher-ups who had managed to have them imported from a company in Kalos, which Steven didn't believe was right. Devon Corp had been studying Mega Stones for months now, and had been working to perfect Key Stones. There had been a debate about whether they would ever be able to sell them, or if they could only give them to trainers who proved themselves worthy. Steven could imagine the prototypes sitting in the lab back at Devon Corp right now.

On the TV, the reporter pressed on with, "And did anybody on this _Team Magma_ seem to possess the power of Mega Evolution?"

May opened her mouth, then closed it with a frown. After a second, she answered, "Well, the leader- Maxie- was _going to_ use Mega Evolution, but then he got interrupted by a phone call..."

The reporter's smile faltered. "A... phone call?" she asked, regaining her fake TV smile.

May frowned, seeming to realize that the reporter was beginning to the validity of her story. "Yes, a phone call," she said, sounding more confident and a bit angry. "They're going to Mt. Pyre next."

This drew the reporter's attention in once more. "Mt. Pyre?" she questioned, interest in her eyes.

"Yeah." May grinned- finally, a genuine reaction. "But don't worry. I'll stop them."

The reporter smiled. "The Hoenn region is lucky to have such an aspiring young girl. Tell me, May, will we see you again in the future?"

May laughed. "I don't know. Check Ever Grande City in a few months, and we'll see."

The reporter wrapped up the story and the show cut to commercial break. Steven sat there, feeling empty as his tea cooled off next to him.

* * *

Weeks went by, and Steven didn't hear from May. He continued checking the news, looking to see if there were any more mentions of her, but everything was oddly silent. He couldn't keep obsessing over her, though; it would start to look creepy.

So, with a struggle, Steven attempted to push all thoughts of her out of his mind and focus on his work.

Ever since the broadcast, Devon Corp had been working even harder on perfecting the Key Stones. The government was now regarding Team Magma as a "terrorist organization," and was putting pressure on Devon to have the Key Stones made readily available before Magma made their own. It had taken Steven many late nights at the office, but finally, the prototypes were ready to be tested out.

And that was why Steven was on his way to Petalburg City and its gym; who better to test out products than gym leaders? Gym leaders were guaranteed to have strong bonds with equally strong Pokemon. He had already given one to Roxanne in Rustboro, and wanted to give one to Norman in Petalburg, too.

It was late morning when he made it to Petalburg City, and the town was already alive. Young children were playing in the streets with Wurmples and Poochyenas, and Steven frowned; their parents really let them run around unsupervised? A flower lady stopped him, thrusting out a daisy, which Steven declined to buy; when she insisted that he take it, free of charge, he smiled and tucked it into his lapel.

Once inside the gym, the man at the front desk stopped him to ask his intentions. Steven informed him that he was from Devon Corp and had some new technology for Norman to try out.

"Unfortunately, Leader Norman is currently in a match..." the boy grimaced. "But you can wait out here until he's done. Or, you can go and sit in on the match. It's supposed to be a good one," he grinned. "The girl competing for the badge is Leader Norman's daughter."

_Daughter_? That'd be an interesting match to see. Steven had only met Norman a few times before, but he was surprised that he didn't know that Norman had kids. Not many of the gym leaders did; some were just too young, but others felt that it was simply too hard to start a family when they were always needed at work. Steven wondered if it was hard for Norman's daughter- not having her dad around. Apparently not _too_ hard, if she had made it this far on her Pokemon journey. Norman wasn't an easy leader to beat.

Steven grinned at the boy at the desk. "I think I will sit in, thank you." The boy gestured towards the door, which Steven quickly slipped through quietly, immediately heading towards the seats on one side of the battlefield.

Steven situated himself before he actually looked out at the field, and his jaw dropped. While he had already been surprised to find out that Norman had a daughter, he sure as hell wasn't expecting that it would be _May._

Somehow, neither of the two trainers had noticed Steven's entrance. In front of May was her Blaziken, and in front of Norman was one of his two Slakings. A quick glance up to the referee and the scoreboard showed Steven that it was obviously a three-on-three match, and both had already had two Pokemon knocked out. Steven wondered what Pokemon May had used before this.

Norman called for Slaking to use Feint Attack, and Blaziken stumbled back a bit. After a second, it seemed to regain its composure and steel itself. Both Pokemon were looking weak, and Steven had to wonder how long this battle had been going on.

Steven wondered absently why May had chosen to call out Blaziken last. As a duel-fighting type, it could have easily defeated all of Norman's team on its own. And from what May had told Steven over lunch, she had spent much of her childhood reading up on and studying Pokemon so that she would have the upper hand when it came to looking at battling from the technical side. So, there was no way that she wouldn't have known that. Therefore, she must have done it simply for the challenge; Steven smiled despite himself.

"Blaziken, use Focus Punch!" May cried, throwing her hand out. The look in her eyes was as fiery as the Pokemon before her. Her clothes appeared to be freshly-pressed, and she looked so much more healthy than she had the last time he had seen her- on TV. Her face was red, and she appeared to be panting. Steven wondered why, as it wasn't as if she was really doing anything physical; was battling really that intense? Steven wouldn't know. Still, despite this, she looked happier than Steven had ever seen her, and he smiled.

The fire-fighting type attacked, and Norman's Pokemon, unable to dodge it due to its Truant ability, dropped like a rock.

The referee declared May the winner as Norman looked at her in shock, and Steven wished that he had gotten to see more of the battle. He wanted to clap for May, but as she approached Norman, he felt that this was probably a private moment. He quickly stood and ducked out of the room. The boy at the desk didn't question him as he took a seat in the lobby.

It was several minutes before the pair emerged together, May grinning and Norman looking defeated, yet proud. Steven rose to his feet, and Norman approached him with a smile as May stood in place, looking surprised.

"Mr. Stone, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Norman asked, reaching out to shake his hand.

Steven shook the man's hand with a smile. "Just business, unfortunately." Norman chuckled at the joke. "Are you familiar with Key Stones?" Steven asked.

Norman frowned. "You mean the thing you use to Mega Evolve a Pokemon?"

"One of the things, yes. Devon Corp has been busy perfecting the Key Stone technology. We've converted them into things called 'Mega Bracelets,' but there's a chance of eventually converting them into different forms, as well. We'd like to ask you, along with several other gym leaders, to test out the prototype and report to us your findings," Steven grimaced, pausing. "Unfortunately, we are not able to provide you with Mega Stones, and therefore the technology will only work if you're able to find one yourself." He pulled the box out of his bag and handed it to the man before him, who took it.

Norman studied the box for a moment before looking up at Steven and grinning. "I think I'll be able to manage."

Steven smiled gratefully. "Thank you. It's much appreciated."

Norman, seeming to remember that his daughter was still there (still looking shocked), turned around and called her over. "May! Come here! This is Steven Stone, the vice president of Devon Corporation."

May looked at him wearily, then shrugged out of the arm her father had wrapped around her. "I know, Dad," she said, looking nervous as her cheeks turned red. "We've met before."

"Briefly," Steven added, lying, but wanting to see if he could push May's buttons. Her eyes widened and she glared at him.

"Steven, let me tell you something about my little girl here," Norman started, and May looked at him in horror.

"Wait, Dad-"

"Please, do tell," Steven prompted, grinning.

"She's the best young trainer you'll ever meet," Norman said, beaming. May looked temporarily relieved, as that wasn't that bad. Then, Norman continued with, "She's always wanted to be a trainer, ever since she was a little girl! Even as a toddler, she'd somehow find my Pokeballs and be letting my Pokemon out, all the time. Almost got herself hurt a few times, too, and yet she always managed to do it again-"

"Okay, that's enough of story time," May said quickly, and suddenly she had a hand on Steven's jacket and was tugging him towards the door. "Bye, Dad! Love you!" Steven didn't even have a chance to say his farewell before he was out the door and laughing despite the blinding sun.

"Congrats, you've now had to listen to one of my dad's dumb stories," May mumbled, starting to walk off. Steven followed, not sure where they were going, but not in any hurry to get back to Rustboro, either.

"Come on, it was cute," Steven said with a chuckle, which was immediately cut off when May's steps faltered and she tripped. Steven had to reach out and grab her arm to stop her from face-planting. When she looked up sheepishly at him, her face was beet-red.

"Guess I don't have to worry about my dad embarrassing me, since I do it so well myself," she muttered, turning and walking again.

"Oh, you're fine," Steven reassured. "Consider yourself lucky that you haven't had to meet _my_ father yet."

May giggled, and Steven rejoiced at the sound. It did draw his attention to her face, though, where the cut from weeks before was still prevalent and scabbing over. He wanted to ask about what happened, but he was afraid she'd take it the wrong way and assume he meant that it looked bad. He hadn't exactly had much experience talking to girls before, and though May seemed far from being the emotional type, he felt like he was walking on a field of land mines.

What did girls like? Flowers? Girls liked flowers, right? Maybe Steven should offer her the daisy he had gotten from the flower lady. Yeah, he'd do that. Later.

They reached a small park, and when May went and sat down on a bench, Steven followed suit. He wasn't exactly sure what they were doing or how long May planned to stick around town, but he didn't plan to question it.

When May didn't say anything, Steven followed up with, "So, why didn't you ever tell me that Norman was your father?"

May's expression fell, but she didn't look at him. Instead, she stared off at a nearby pond, the sunlight reflecting off the surface of the water. "Because I don't want special treatment for who my father is. What's success if you only get it through your parents?" Steven took the rhetorical question as a slap in the face, but May didn't seem to be directing it at him. "I don't feel like I'll gain anything out of boasting about who my dad is. Emotionally, I mean. I'm so proud of myself and my Pokemon for all of our accomplishments, and I don't want that feeling taken away simply so I can take an easier route."

"That's... admirable of you," Steven croaked out, his throat suddenly dry.

"That's also why I don't have a phone, and why I didn't have a PokeNav until you gave me one. It's not that I couldn't get one from my parents, since they have plenty of money, but that's not how I was raised. It feels much better if you earn it yourself. My mother lives in a relatively small house, too. That's just how my family is."

Steven suddenly felt guilty and was on the verge of having an existential crisis about whether or not he had been living a lie, but May interrupted his thoughts with a subject-changing question of her own. "So, that thing you gave my dad... that was a Key Stone?"

Finally, something that Steven could talk about without getting too emotionally involved. "Yes," he said, smiling politely. "Are you familiar with the technology?"

May nodded slowly. "Yes, as of recently. Did... did you hear about what happened on Mt. Chimney?" When Steven nodded, May continued. "After that, I started doing all of the research I could about Mega Evolution. After I beat Flannery, I returned home to Littleroot for a while, which is why I'm just now getting here. Professor Birch is my neighbor, and he has an expansive library, so I've spent a lot of time camped out in there."

Steven was suddenly all-too-aware of the third Mega Bracelet that was in a box in his bag. It had been given to him as a gift, but he knew he would never use it. Though he loved his Pokemon very much, they had never really battled together, and therefore there was no way that their bond was strong enough to activate the power of Mega Evolution.

"What are your thoughts on Mega Evolution?" he asked the girl, trying to push the thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't just give her the Bracelet. He could be in so much trouble with Devon scientists if they knew that he gave away one of their prototypes to some novice trainer.

May seemed to contemplate the question. "I think it's a wonderful way to show how powerful the bond between Pokemon and trainer can be," she said eventually, slowly. "It's a beautiful concept, really. The idea that a Pokemon could have all of this extra power, but that it's hidden until it and its trainer get close enough. That's what Pokemon battling should really be about: connection."

Seeming to act on its own, Steven's hand crept towards his bag. _Dammit_, he thought. He couldn't _not_ give it to her after that answer. He pulled the box out and handed it to her. "Here," he sighed.

She looked at the box in confusion. "What is this?" she asked. Steven nodded for her to open it. She pulled out the thick red-and-black Bracelet. Steven noted how it coincidentally matched her normal outfit. "Is this..." she trailed off, throwing out that sentence and instead continuing with, "Why?" She looked at him then, her sapphire eyes full of questions.

"It was given to me by the scientists at Devon, but I have no use for it. I trust that you'll take it and help one of your Pokemon reach their full potential. It's up to you which one. You just have to find a Mega Stone." Steven smiled.

Steven expected her to argue, as there was hesitation on her face, but that look quickly turned into a grin, and she said, "I don't even know how to thank you. This means so much, really."

"You don't have to thank me," Steven assured her. The happiness on her face was more than enough for him. She slipped on the Bracelet and stared at it in wonder.

"So, how long are you going to be sticking around Petalburg City?" he asked, and May seemed to have to force herself to tear her eyes away from the Mega Bracelet.

She laughed. "Oh, I'm not, really. I'm just waiting on-"

"May!"

The girl jumped to her feet and whirled around and Steven followed suit, alarmed. A boy who looked about May's age with brown hair and a white cap was jogging up to them, a grin on his face. "May, I got the badge!" he shouted.

A huge smile grew on May's face, and she ran around the bench and over to the boy, practically tackling him in a hug. Steven frowned, and he felt his pulse speed up a bit. The pair was talking in a quick chatter that Steven couldn't quite make out. The boy said something, and May nodded eagerly. The boy took off running.

May turned back to Steven, once again bouncing on her feet. "I gotta go. Nice talking to you, Steven! Thanks again!" She didn't even allow him to respond before she was off running. After a few steps, however, she turned around, adding, "Oh, by the way, nice flower!" before going off again.

Steven dug his nails hard into his palm and sighed in frustration. They were always parting like this.

He pulled the daisy out from his lapel and watched as it drooped a bit, already getting wilted. He crushed it in his fist and dropped it on the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the wait. I've been trying to post this for about two days now, but FFN would never let me log in! I kept getting 503 Service Error messages. But here this is, finally! **

**As for upcoming projects, I'm planning to get a Steven/May Valentine's fic done by next weekend. I can't guarantee that one for sure, though, because I'm not sure of this next week's schedule yet. Also, SamKo and I are currently spitballing ideas for a collaborative Steven/May piece, so you'll hopefully see that sometime in the future.**

**In the meantime, enjoy! **

* * *

May was not going to win this race.

Brendan had challenged her to a race back to Mauville, and May had stupidly accepted the challenge. But the boy had gotten a head start on her, and now she was barely out of Petalburg and already out of breath.

Halfway through the Petalburg woods, she jogged down to a stop, stumbling a bit as her momentum tried to pull her feet forward. She practically doubled over, trying to hold her breath in for a few seconds before letting it out in a feeble attempt to stop herself from panting. She forced herself to straighten her back and lift her arms over her head, knowing that it would open up her lungs and allow more air in.

"Hey, May!"

May whirled around, thinking, _Dear Arceus, I hope they didn't see me practically hyperventilating. _

In the back of her mind, she had sort of hoped it was Steven, pursuing her to ask if he could come with her. It wasn't, though, of course; Steven didn't even know where she was going or which direction she had turned once she got out of the city.

It was Wally and his uncle.

"Oh, hey, Wally," she said to the boy in surprise as they jogged up to her. She smiled at his uncle, who nodded to her in response.

"Hi, May!" Wally exclaimed happily, grinning. She eyed him up and down. His normally sickly-white skin had a bit of a flush to it, and he wasn't as slumped over as usual. Even his olive-green hair had more of a shine to it. He certainly looked much more healthy than the last time she had seen him.

"You look great," she commented with a smile, and Wally laughed excitedly.

"I know, right?" He seemed so happy- so unlike the nervous young boy that May had helped to catch a Pokemon and then battled in Mauville City. She couldn't help but feel a bit proud- both of Wally and of herself. "I've been seeing a new doctor in Verdanturf for treatment, and it's actually working! They think I might actually be healthy enough to travel in a few months!"

May smiled nervously at the boy, but her eyes shot over to his uncle. He was frowning, a crease between his eyebrows, but didn't correct his nephew.

"That's awesome, Wally," May smoothed out, tearing her eyes away from the man.

"Oh, and guess what? Ralts evolved into a Kirlia!" Wally's smile was so big that May had to wonder if it hurt his face.

A real grin tugged at May's lips. "That's great! You must be a really good trainer, then. Because Ralts themselves don't learn many powerful offensive moves, it isn't always easy to evolve one- even if you were out training every day and battling all the time, like me. I'm impressed."

Wally blushed, but his smile remained, albeit a bit smaller now. "Thanks," he mumbled shyly, then perked up once more. "Hey, do you want to have a battle?"

_Right now?_ May frowned, glancing behind her and farther into the woods. Bug Pokemon echoed eerily in the darkness. It was already the afternoon, and it got dark even earlier in the woods. She needed to get through them and catch up with Brendan before he started assuming that she gave up completely.

"I would, Wally," she began, and bit her lip as his face fell, "But I have to catch up with Brendan, my r-" she caught herself; Wally had wanted to be her rival, so it might be a bit rude of her to reveal to him that she already had one. "-Professor Birch's son," she concluded, slapping a smile on her face.

"Oh," Wally said, looking dejected.

"We won't keep you, then," Wally's uncle interjected. It was the first time that May had heard him speak since they got there. Wally looked up at the man in surprise and hurt. "We just wanted to give you this," he finished, pulling a disk out of his pocket and handing it out to May.

She took it slowly, examining it. It was a TM- or maybe an HM? Wally's uncle _had_ given her rock smash before…

"It contains the move surf," he clarified, and May's eyes widened. _Surf?_ But that was so hard to come across!

"Oh, Arceus, thank you so much!" she exclaimed, and immediately blushed. "I mean, uh. Thank you, sir," she said more quietly.

The man chuckled. "No problem."

Wally was staying oddly silent. May noticed that his eyes were trained down on her left wrist, and when she looked down, she realized why. She quickly raised the arm with her Mega Bracelet and hid it behind her head, making it look as if she was rubbing her neck. Though she was proudly displaying the Bracelet for all to see, she was suddenly a bit nervous about it; Steven hadn't seemed all-too-sure about giving it to her, so what if she got him in trouble?

She knew one thing for sure, though. The second she got her hands on a Mega Stone, she wouldn't hesitate to use it.

May used her other hand to tuck the disk into her bag, making a mental note to check her Pokedex later to see which Pokemon could learn surf. Slowly, she glanced up at Wally's uncle in puzzlement. "But, um, why me, sir? Not that I'm ungrateful, or anything," she added quickly.

The man smiled. "Just think of it as a thank-you for helping Wally, and for being such a good friend to him. Part of the reason why he's getting better is directly linked to how happy he's been lately, and that's because of you."

Wally's face turned as red as a tomato. "Uncle-"

"I'm glad I could help," she said honestly, the sentiment making her slightly uncomfortable. "And really, thank you so much. It was great seeing you both again…" Once again, she glanced behind her.

Wally's uncle got the hint. "You too, May. Now, come on, Wally, we'd better be getting back to your mom's house before it gets dark."

All traces of Wally's happiness from earlier were gone, and May felt bad, even as he sighed, "Yes, Uncle."

May said her farewells, promising Wally that they could have a battle on their next encounter. Wally left with a grin on his face once more, and May felt warm.

* * *

"No way," May whispered to herself. Without even looking, she returned her still-wet-from-surfing Linoone back to its Pokeball.

The creature in front of her made a noise. "No way," she said again.

The Latias, floating several feet off the ground in front of her, threw its head back and cried, "_Shwaaaaaa_!"

May looked all around her. The beach was empty. Nobody would ever believe this.

She took a hesitant step forward, and was surprised when the legendary Pokemon didn't move back. She raised a shaking hand up slowly, and stumbled back when the Pokemon pushed its head against the extended limb forcefully.

"_Shwaaaa_!" Latias cried again, jerking its head over its shoulder. May could suddenly see the worry in its eyes, and she frowned.

"Is… something wrong?" she asked hesitantly. She had never attempted to communicate with a Pokemon that wasn't hers; when you had a strong connection with them, it was slightly easier to get the gist of what they meant, but this was a whole different story. She must have been right, though, for the Pokemon bobbed its head eagerly and cried out again. When it again motioned over its shoulder, May asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"

The Pokemon cried out and flew even closer to her, surprising May and almost knocking her backwards. She took that as a yes, and when Latias dipped lower to the ground, she climbed on its back.

Flying on Latios' back was almost indescribable. May had never experienced anything like it before; she had never even flown on a Pokemon, let alone a legendary that flew at sonic speeds and dipped close enough to the water that May could feel the sea breeze hitting her face.

They landed on an island, and Latias quickly dropped May to the ground before flying farther down into a dense forest, ignoring May's calls to stop.

"Great," she mumbled. _Now I'm all alone on an island in the middle of nowhere. _The eerie silence quickly got to her; there weren't even the calls of bird Pokemon or the chattering of bug Pokemon, like there would be in normal forests. May let Linoone back out of its Pokeball simply so she didn't feel so alone.

The ferret Pokemon stuck close to her heels as she approached the woods. She had to crouch down to read a deteriorating wooden sign, half-hidden in moss.

_Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts. _

May frowned. That was grim. This island was getting creepier by the minute.

She and Linoone quickly made their way through the forest, which wasn't quite as dense as it had looked from the outside. It was weird, going through woods and not being ambushed by wild Pokemon or trainers. The utter lack of noise coming from around them sent shivers down May's spine, so she hummed loudly to herself- to the point that Linoone had started to give her weird looks.

They came to a clearing, and May stopped in her tracks. She had been expecting to see Latias there- she hadn't, however, expected to see _Latios_.

She approached the legendary slowly, and it cried out- it didn't sound like Latias' cry, though. It sounded pained, and May's heart instantly went out to the creature. Was it hurt? Was this why Latias had called her here?

_Why me, though? _

"Hey, kid! You can't be here!"

The voice startled May so bad that it sent shocks through her body as she jumped. She quickly pivoted on one heel, and came face-to-face with several people- all dressed in the Team Magma uniform.

A short girl in front of her, seemingly the one who had spoken, sighed. Her face didn't fall, exactly; she didn't really seem to be showing much emotion at all. If anything, she looked annoyed. "Great. It's you."

A thicker man next to her frowned. "Hey, you're the kid who thwarted Leader Maxie's plans at Mt. Chimney!"

Behind her, Latios cried out again, and May retreated a few steps, placing herself protectively between them and the Pokemon. Linoone stood back on its hind feet and growled. By the blank looks the Magma members gave the ferret Pokemon, its intimidation methods weren't very effective.

"I don't know what you're planning to do here," she said slowly, dangerously, even though she had a pretty good idea, "but you're not laying a hand on this Pokemon."

The girl- who had purple pigtails under her Magma hoodie- rolled her eyes. "You don't know when to shut your mouth, do you?"

The man, despite being much larger than this tiny girl, still seemed to look to her for authority. "Do you want me to take care of her, Courtney?" he asked. His tone held respect, and May had to wonder if the girl was an executive or something.

The girl- Courtney- seemed to size up May before sighing again and replying, "No, I've got it."

May braced herself. When the man stepped back and one of the silent grunts from behind them stepped forward next to Courtney, May reached for another Pokeball. Linoone looked at her and she nodded. The small Pokemon ran out several feet onto the makeshift battlefield. May threw her Pokeball, calling out Beautifly as well.

The Magma members sent out a Koffing and Camerupt. When the male grunt laughed at May's choice of Pokemon, she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Barely giving them the time to retreat back to a safe spot off the battlefield, she called out, "Beautifly, use gust! Linoone, use fury swipes!"

The opposers cried out in unison for their Pokemon to dodge the attacks, which was futile, as Beautifly's attack was certain to hit both. They both stumbled back, but the wind didn't seem to faze them.

Only Koffing managed to dodge Linoone's fury swipes. When the ferret Pokemon failed to hit it before it rose higher in the air, it seemed to move its attention to the other one. Camerupt grunted in pain as Linoone landed a direct hit against its side.

After a bout of yelling from its trainer and somewhat recovering from the attack, Camerupt shot out a flame blast. Beautifly flew up higher desperately in an attempt to avoid the flames, calling out its name. Linoone used its speed to its advantage and quickly darted around the field, confusing the Camerupt, whose eyes had been following it and now just looked dazed. It ended up with Linoone somehow coming up from beneath Koffing and crunching right into its side without even having to be ordered to.

May hoped desperately that the grunt wouldn't have Koffing use self-destruct or explosion; if he did, she wasn't sure her Pokemon could handle it. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding as he called out for Koffing to use sludge.

Despite May's quick orders to dodge it, Linoone was caught off-guard, still looking proud from its speedy attack, and took the hit directly, crying out loudly and stumbling around before falling to the ground.

"No!" May cried, reaching a hand out as if she could reach the Pokemon. Beautifly swooped lower over its teammate, crying out. When Camerupt took a step closer to them, the butterfly Pokemon flew up once more. May clenched one fist and used the fingers of the other hand to dig into her thigh. "Linoone, please get up!" Still, the ferret Pokemon did not react. Courtney smirked- the first real sign of emotion that May had seen on her face.

"Camerupt, finish off the other one with lava plume," the girl called, returning to her bored facade.

"Beautifly, dodge it!" May cried, but the butterfly Pokemon was only able to get so high before the flame licked at its wings, forcing it to dip lower. "Use stun spore!" she yelled feebly, knowing that it was almost over.

The Camerupt was so concentrated on trying to avoid Beautifly's attack that it didn't see when Linoone rose off the ground- until it was too late. May stared in shock as the ferret Pokemon threw itself against the Camerupt, sinking its teeth in. Courtney was yelling out in outrage, and a few seconds later, the Camerupt fainted.

"Yes!" May exclaimed, grinning. Linoone had been playing dead- a dirty trick, but one common among the species. May felt a bit ashamed that she herself hadn't recognized that it was happening, though.

Courtney angrily called her Pokemon back. "This isn't over yet," she sneered. She nodded at her partner.

The grunt nodded back before yelling, "Koffing, use smog!"

May didn't understand the big deal until the purple fog filled the air. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. "Hold your breath!" she shouted to her Pokemon.

When battling in an official arena, poison-type moves weren't an issue. The indoor environments were controlled enough to be able to alter the levels of air toxicity, so the trainers giving the orders were in no immediate danger. Even the Pokemon involved in battle were given special medicine and checkups after the battle, just to make sure that no lasting damage had been done. When trainer battles occurred outside and somebody used a move that poisoned the air, the trainers were usually far back enough to not be in the danger zone. Now, though, May was far closer to the battling Pokemon than she had ever been before. She had known she had been putting herself in danger, but she didn't realize it would get to this extent.

No humane trainer would ever do something to put another human being's life in danger.

She cupped a hand over her mouth, and through it, called out, "Beautifly, use venoshock!"

The Magma members had already gotten mouth-coverings from somewhere and placed them over their faces. _They planned this, then_, May thought. _They knew that they'd be using smog, and that it could hurt me. _

Beautifly swooped down for the attack, and the Koffing, too slow to dodge the move, fell from it. May expected more anger, as she had just won, but the grunt simply called back his Pokemon and the team began to retreat.

"It's not worth it," Courtney said to them. She looked back at May. "_You're_ not worth it."

May couldn't do anything as they all called out flying Pokemon and took to the air on the back of them. She was too concerned with checking up on her Pokemon. The purple fog was still in the air, and every breath of it that she was forced to take in burned her throat all the way down to her lungs. With her hands shaking, she called Linoone and Beautifly back into their Pokeballs.

"_Shwaaaa_!" cried the Pokemon behind May, reminding her that it was there. She turned around. Her vision was starting to swim.

Latios swooped down and nudged at her bag. It didn't seemed to be fazed from the poison at all. Staring at the legendary in confusion, May grabbed the bag and reached in. Right at the top was an empty Pokeball. Could that possible mean...?

She lifted the Pokeball, and Latios touched its nose to the sensor on the front. In a flash of red light, it disappeared inside. The ball glowed red and shook once before settling with a clicking nose.

May widened her eyes. She had just... caught Latios. Or Latios had caught itself. Whatever-

May coughed as a result of holding her breath, forcing her to take in more of the poisoned air. She dropped to the ground and started rooting through her bag for an Antidote. Tears stung behind her eyes.

She finally found a vial at the bottom of her bag and didn't even think before ripping the cork out and throwing back the entire thing. She had lost consciousness by the time it hit her throat.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys. My apologies for the wait. I've had a long and stressful week because of a week-long school event that I was in charge of. A friend of mine was also in the hospital and is now struggling to be back at school, so I've been helping her a lot. On top of that, there was that whole Valentine's Day thing, which was actually a two-day long event for my boyfriend and I (because of having to go to dinner Friday because we couldn't get reservations Saturday), lol. **

**Anyways. I'm not a huge fan of this chapter, but it's necessary because it leads up to the next chapter, which I've had planned out since I started this fic. The next chapter will follow immediately after the contents of this chapter, so maybe I'll start writing that after this is posted. As always, thank you so much to everybody for the support- especially the reviewers.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

_Rnnnnng_.

Steven rolled over in bed, squeezed his eyes tighter together, and pulled the pillow against his face. There was no way his phone was ringing this early. It was obviously just a dream.

_Rnnnnnnnnnnng_!

Without opening his eyes, he let his hand flop around wildly on the bedside table until his fingers managed to curl around his vibrating phone. He dropped it onto the pillow next to his ear and hit the talk button.

"Hello?" he mumbled sleepily, and cleared his throat.

"Hello, is this Steven Stone?" a strong, feminine voice asked.

Steven opened his eyes and blinked in the darkness around him. "Yes, who this?"

"This is Winona from the Pokemon gym in Fortree City."

Steven stiffened. Though he was tired and a bit irritated, he knew it wouldn't be smart for a Devon representative to get on the bad side of a gym leader. "Oh, hello. My sincere apologies, but... is this urgent, or could it wait until a bit later?"

A long pause came from the other end of the phone until Winona, sounding a bit amused, said, "Mr. Stone, if you were planning to go back to sleep, I hope you know that it's nearly noon."

Steven shot up, fingers scrambling to bring the phone up with him, his eyes flying to the digital clock on his nightstand. 11:53. Huh. _Guess I needed the rest more than I realized_, Steven thought.

He cleared his throat once more, making his voice sound slightly deeper. "Yes, of course... Er... what was it you needed, exactly?"

Winona chuckled, and Steven could feel his face heat up. "There's been cases of mysterious invisible blockings popping up all over town. In fact, there's one in front of my gym. I haven't had a challenger in days because none of them can get here! The only reason I'm able to leave is because of my flying Pokemon, but trainers who challenge my gym can't use the move fly yet, so..." Steven coughed, and she took the hint and got back on track. "Anyways, I was told that Devon Corp might have something to help with seeing these things so we know how to dispose of them."

Steven thought about it. Mysterious invisible blockages? That sounded like the Kecleon incident that occurred in Lilycove City a few months back... "Yes, that's right," he said. "I believe the item you need is the Devon Scope. We have one on hand at our main Devon location and can have it out to Fortree within the hour."

"Excellent. Should I expect a Devon worker, or...?"

Steven tugged at a messy lock of hair, contemplating it. On one hand, it would be nice to just send a worker to do it so he could go back to bed. On the other, he had spent too many of his teenage years being a useless member of society and sleeping all day, and he wasn't ready to repeat that habit now at age twenty-one. And he _did_ have his motives for going to Fortree.

It had been two weeks since he had seen May, and there was a chance that she might be in Fortree City around now. Knowing May, she would have breezed through the gym and been out of the town a week before, but if no one was able to access the gym, there was a chance that May was halted in the town. Steven had something to give her- something he had managed to pry out of the hands of the Devon scientists.

Steven swung his legs over the side of the bed and sighed into the phone. "No, you can expect me."

He could hear the sly smile in Winona's voice as she said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Stone," before hanging up and leaving Steven with a _click_.

* * *

May arrived at the bridge as if on cue.

Though Steven had been hopefully anticipating her arrival, he still didn't turn around when he heard footsteps squishing on the damp ground behind him. He was too eager- and too afraid of the disappointment that would ensue if it _wasn't_ her.

But still, a second later, her voice hesitantly called, "Steven?" and he turned around as if in surprise. Above them, the sky was darkening. Thunder echoed in the distance. It would rain soon.

"Oh, hello, May," he said, still feigning shock. "What are you doing here?"

She was wearing her normal travel clothes, and her pigtails were as perfect as always- bow tied tight and neat on top. But her skin was paler than usual. Her bright eyes looked a bit glazed over. One hand was raised in the air in surprise, and the other was curling tightly into the fabric of her shorts.

The look only lasted before she shut her eyes with a giant grin, tilting her head and saying, "I'm in town to challenge the gym leader!" She opened her eyes again, frowning. "But nobody's been able to get to the gym..."

Steven didn't even hear her words. He was too busy checking out her overall appearance. A vein in her neck was visible even from his position several feet away. Her normally-confident stance was replaced by one that left her half-slumped over, with her feet facing inwards towards each other. Steven frowned, practically feeling his heart sink into his chest. "May, are you… okay?" he asked in a low voice.

A look of surprise passed over her face before she quickly replaced it with one of happiness. It sent shivers down Steven's spine as he realized how easily she could fake a joyful expression. "Yeah!" May said with a grin. "I'm-" she broke off coughing, as if her body had realized her lie and was accepting it no longer.

Steven was there in an instant, one arm wrapped around her and the hand of the other one rubbing her back as she came down from the coughing fit. As soon as it was over, she looked up at him, her eyes watering a bit, and he jumped back. "Sorry…" he mumbled, his cheeks a bit flushed. She didn't say anything, looking down at her feet. "May, what… happened? Are you sick?"

She forced a smile once more, and something inside of Steven wanted to scream at her to stop. "Oh, no. I was just… on the bad side of a poison attack. My body's been having a bad reaction to it, that's all. I'm sure I'll be fine within a few days, like my Pokemon."

Steven wanted to hold her again, hating seeing the broken look in her eyes behind the smile. He had a million questions to ask her, but he felt as though he wouldn't like the answer to any of them. He was already burning with rage inside at the idea of her getting hurt during a Pokemon battle. "How long ago was that?" he demanded, and May flinched slightly at his tone.

"Just, uh… a week…"

Steven's eyes widened. "A _week_?"

"Maybe ten days," she whispered meekly.

Steven was pretty sure his heart stopped completely there. "May, are you serious?" She was shaking slightly, looking at him with a bit of fear. "Dear Arceus. I need to get you to a hospital..."

Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine, Steven! Really!"

Before Steven could say anything in response, May said, "Oh!" and Steven could see the subject change before she spoke another word. He frowned, even as a genuine smile came to her face as she said, "You'll never guess what Pokemon I caught!"

Steven, though he still had a feeling of dread in his chest, forced a smile onto his face. "What?"

"I'll show you," May said slyly, running past him and further onto the bridge as she threw a Pokeball into the air.

Steven's eyes widened as the Latios materialized. He had read much about them, but never dreamed of seeing one in person. His jaw dropped as the legendary dragon flew towards May and bumped its nose against her face, forcing the weak girl back a few steps as she laughed. "Easy, Lati," she said quietly, smiling.

She turned back to Steven, keeping one hand on the neck of the Pokemon. Latios continued to nudge May with its head. Steven couldn't believe the affection that the legendary seemed to have for the girl- and so soon! "I was protecting Latios when I got hurt," she explained. The Pokemon cried out, sounding sad. "Shhh, it's okay," May assured it, stroking its neck. "It was worth it," she said with a grin, looking back to Steven.

"May, I can't believe… You…" Steven trailed off, at a loss for words. There had never been instances of regular trainers forming a bond with legendary Pokemon- well, not in Hoenn, at least. Legendaries were recognized as something to respect and fear. Their ultimate power was supposed to be far too strong for a normal trainer to conquer.

But May had defied that, as she did so many other things.

"You're going to be unstoppable now," Steven said, smiling. He curled his fingers against his leg. _But you're also going to be a target. _

May frowned at that, looking back up at Latios, who was cooing. "I wouldn't say that," she said. "Latios is still a baby. It's amazingly strong, but still low-leveled. We're going to have to train a lot if I want to use it in battle against the Champion. For now, though," she glanced down at her feet, one of which she was shifting back and forth, "I'm going to avoid using Lati in high-profile battles. Gym battles, I mean. I don't want to… draw unnecessary attention."

_So May had thought that through, then. _Steven had to remind himself that she was a lot smarter than he gave her credit for. Smart and strong. Unstoppable.

"You're right," Steven said, his expression darkening again. "Team Magma already wants your head, May. Don't give them any more reason to increase their efforts."

May frowned and looked ready to respond, but this time, it was Steven's turn to change the subject. He reached into his messenger bag and brought out the Devon Scope, which diverted May's attention enough for her to drop the topic.

"What's that?" she asked curiously, standing on her toes and leaning forward to look.

Steven smiled. "Walk down to the end of the bridge," he instructed calmly.

May raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh... okay?" she said hesitantly. She called back Latios before making her way down the rope bridge.

Steven counted down in his head as May hesitantly walked away, her feet still squishing on the wet wood. _Three, two_…

May hit the invisible blockage with a cry of, "Oh!" and a quick jump back. _One_.

She turned back to look at Steven in confusion. "It's… like the thing in front of the gym," she called, sounding surprised. "But, what am I supposed to…?"

Steven tossed the Devon Scope towards her, thanking Arceus that she had gotten good hand-eye coordination skills over the past few months of her journey- otherwise, he might have seen the technology toppling over the side of the bridge and into the river below. She started to raise it hesitantly to her face, more confidently when Steven nodded at her. She held the Scope to her eyes and looked towards the blockage. Immediately, she set it on the ground- practically dropping it, which made Steven cringe- so she could whip out her Pokedex with one hand and a Pokeball with the other.

The Kecleon must have realized that it had been spotted, for it changed back to its normal color and let out a cry of anger. "It's a Kecleon," May said in wonder, mostly to herself. Steven smiled and shifted his weight onto the other foot, happy that he was going to get to witness May battling again.

May tucked her Pokedex back into her pocket and threw the Pokeball. Steven expected to see Latios again, but instead, he was met with a Pokemon of May's that he had not known she had: an Absol. She must have just caught it recently, then. Steven knew there were some areas around her where they could be found. The thing landed in front of her and threw its head back, snarling. Steven's eyes widened at its immediate aggressiveness, but he could hear May laughing gleefully.

She threw her hand out in front of her as she yelled, "Absol, use thunder!"

Steven jumped back in shock as the Pokemon channeled the the electricity forming in the air from the coming storm. A thunder bolt materialized and struck the Kecleon directly. The poor Pokemon didn't even have the chance to attack before it was crying out and retreating into the forest.

Steven could hear May laughing and thanking the dark Pokemon as she called it back into its Pokeball. He was still in shock from the sudden and powerful move that May had chosen to use. She couldn't have used something like… bite? Or slash? The ground around where the Kecleon had been standing was black and singed, smoke curling into the air.

May returned to their conversation spot, bouncing on her toes. There was a newfound air of excitement surrounding her, likely from the adrenaline that came from battle. Steven wondered what that felt like.

"Too bad you didn't get to catch it," Steven commented offhandedly, trying to brush off how the quick battle had shaken him.

May shrugged. "It's cool. I don't think it would have been a great addition to my team, anyway. Plus, I already have six Pokemon." A look of _something_ crossed May's face, but she seemed to brush it off.

"What is it?" Steven asked. May looked away. "Hey, come on. What's up?"

"I just…" May was chewing on her lip. Steven's eyes locked on the area for a moment before he snapped them back up to her nervous eyes. "Would I be a horrible person for sending one of my Pokemon back to live with Professor Elm so that I can catch another one?" she asked quickly.

The question was so simple and unexpected that it stumped Steven for a moment. He wasn't a trainer, so he had never considered that this would really be an area of conflict. Trainers wanted to be the best they could be, right? That often required switching out parts of their team for more powerful ones. It was just something that came with being a trainer- or, at least, that was the impression that Steven had gotten.

Why was May so _different_?

"No, May, that's…" Steven was the one biting his lip, now. He reached a hand up to brush his bangs out of his face, tugging on them slightly. "That's just… part of being a trainer. Everybody switches up their team at some point. I'm honestly very surprised that you _haven't _swapped out any of your Pokemon yet."

Despite Steven's reassuring words, May still looked sad. "You're right. I just… I've spent so much time training Beautifly, and I really love it, but I don't feel like it brings enough to my team. Plus, it's half flying-type, and I already have Swellow for that. I really need a grass or water type to even out my team, too."

Steven smiled. _She has such a kind heart_, he thought.

"I'm sure your Pokemon will understand," he said softly, and he meant it. May had a connection with her Pokemon that he hadn't seen many other times. If anybody's Pokemon was going to understand being swapped for something more powerful, it would be May's.

Finally, a real smile came back to her face. Her eyes were a bit watery, and she squeezed them shut and tried to brush it off. "Thanks, Steven."

Before he could say anything else, another crack of thunder echoed across the sky, now directly above the pair. Steven felt a drop of rain hit his face, and within seconds, the sprinkle turned into a downpour.

"Shit!" May swore, pulling her bag off of her back and wrapping her arms around it to protect the contents from the rain.

"There's a cave over there!" Steven called, pointing to the rock structure just on the outskirts of the nearby forest. He could barely hear his own voice over the echo of the rain on the bridge.

May nodded and took off in that direction. Steven followed suit.

They ducked within the lip of the cave. Within several feet, the light provided from outside had disappeared, leaving them surrounded by pitch black darkness. The silence of the cave was interrupted only by their wet footsteps on the rock and faint dripping sounds coming from deep within.

He couldn't see May in front of him, but his footsteps were halted when he felt her arm shoot out to block his path.

"One second," she said quietly, though there was no reason to whisper. In the silence, he could hear the sound of a Pokeball opening, and a second later, May's Blaziken was in front of them. The flames coming off of its back lit up the cave around them.

"Smart," Steven commented, following May as she let Blaziken lead them deeper into the cave.

They quickly came to an area that the ground looked smooth and dry enough to sit down on. Both of them dropped their bags. May, with the help of Blaziken, started a fire, ignoring Steven's concerns that it would eat up the oxygen in the tunnel.

Their makeshift camp complete, Steven and May sat back and let the fire warm them up as the rain pattered down outside.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys! It's really late and I'm not sure if I've slept at all in about 48 hours. lol. **

**This chapter is some sorta angsty Steven Stone backstory. Which I also did in Safekeeping. This is too much of a pattern. **

_**"Characters are like geodes; you have to break them open to see what they're really like." **_

**That quote is literally Steven in a million different ways, so there's my justification for why I have to always destroy his childhood. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy! I'd really appreciate feedback on this chapter, as it was really hard to write. **

* * *

_Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. _

May's heartbeat echoed in her ears as she leaned her head back against the cold cave wall, shutting her eyes. The rain hadn't done much to help her condition; she was already weak, and being soaked to the toe hadn't improved anything. She could feel the warmth radiating off of Steven, though he was sitting nearly a foot away. It was probably just the heat of the fire, or of Blaziken, who sat several feet away on her other side.

All of her other Pokemon, save for Latios, were also out of their Pokeballs and huddled around the fire. Though several of them had been around Steven before, none had met him properly, and May took her time in introducing them. Linoone had taken a particular interest in him and quickly curled up into a ball on his lap. Steven had seemed startled by the sudden action, but eventually relaxed and let his hand fall in rhythm, stroking the ferret Pokemon's fur.

May had asked Steven to bring his Pokemon out, too, as she had never met any of them and didn't even know what he had, but he lamented that they were all too big. He _did_ clarify for her that he had a Skarmory, a Metagross, and an Aggron. May's mind immediately flew to the Aggronnite that she knew was buried deep in her bag. Should she offer it to him? He would certainly have more use for it then her-

Except that he wouldn't. Because he wasn't a trainer.

Steven changed the subject from talking about their Pokemon, suddenly seeming to realize something as he reached for his bag. "I brought you something," he said, a bit excitedly.

May frowned, but couldn't help but feel a bit curious on the inside. "What? Steven, you already gave me the Devon Scope!" Her cheeks flushed, remembering that she had in fact left them sitting on the bridge, and it was in fact _Steven _who rescued them from the rain before gifting them to her. "Seriously, you know I'm bad with… handouts." Somewhat unconsciously, she used the fingers of her right hand to turn her Mega Bracelet around her left wrist.

Steven grinned over his shoulder, still digging in his bag. "You'll like it, I promise."

_I don't doubt it, _May thought. So far, all of Steven's "gifts" consisted of high-tech Devon material.

Steven pulled out a stone, handing it out to her. When she reached out to take it, she at first thought it was a fire stone, as its golden-red appearance would lead one to believe. But when her fingers wrapped around it, it sent a shock through her whole body. It felt like… a wave of power.

She stared at it in wonder. "Is this… a Mega Stone?" she realized.

Steven smiled. "Yes. It's a Blazikenite. You'll never imagine how hard it was to convince the scientists at Devon that a teenage girl would have more use for it than they would."

May could feel the blood rush to her face. Her heart seemed to beat a bit harder in her chest. "Steven, I don't even… I don't even know what to say. You didn't have to, really."

The silver-haired man ran his fingers through his hair, smiling and looking at her with… genuine care. Affection, almost. "I know."

May held the stone to her chest for a moment before tucking it into her bag. When Steven raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes flicking over to Blaziken, she explained quietly, "I'm not sure when I'll start having Blaziken use it. You can only Mega Evolve one Pokemon during battle, and right now I'm using Latios, since I need to get its level up. I don't want to give the stone to Blaziken and get its hopes up when I might not even be Mega Evolving it for a while." Steven nodded in understanding.

They both sat back once more, still trying to get warm. Steven had somehow seemed to get more thoroughly soaked through than she had. May had shed her red tanktop and was just wearing the black one underneath with her shorts while the other shirt dried at a safe distance away from the fire.

"So, what are your plans after you defeat Winona?" Steven asked calmly a while later, breaking the silence.

May opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling of the cave. It look damp, though no water dripped down. "Move on to the next gym, of course," she murmured in response.

"Where's that?"

May pursed her lips. Steven obviously knew, so why was he asking? "Mossdeep," she replied. "And then Sootopolis. And then to the League in Ever Grande."

"Are you prepared to take on the Champion?"

_What kind of question is that? _May thought, contemplating it. She didn't exactly _know_ if she was ready. Hell, she still had three gyms left to beat! Plus Victory Road and the Elite Four! The Champion still seemed light years away.

She was saved from answering by the sound of a Pokemon's call coming from somewhere deeper within the cave. The sound didn't affect May in the slightest, but Steven was on his feet in a second, practically sending Linoone flying onto the cave floor. May slowly glanced up at the man, and then rose to her feet with a sigh. The action sent a small wave of dizziness to her head, but after a second, she stabilized herself.

Though nothing had appeared, Steven was still glancing warily at the darkness as if something was going to jump out and attack him directly. May dragged her eyes back to give him an annoyed glance.

"What?" he asked defensively, not meeting her eyes and instead choosing to continue eyeing up the darkness. "You heard it too!"

Though May had gotten somewhat used to Steven being overprotective and sort of nervous around Pokemon, this still seemed over the top. "Steven, we're in a _cave_," she ground out through her teeth. "There are wild Pokemon all over. They're not harmful, or anything. Get used to it."

She turned around to face him completely, met with a glare that she returned right back. "You don't know anything," he snapped.

She was taken back by the sudden hostility, but didn't let it affect her. "_I_ don't know anything? You're not even a trainer!"

Steven opened his mouth to retort, then snapped it shut, his eyes widening. May knew there was a Pokemon behind her without even having to turn around; the look on Steven's face and the way her Pokemon all perked up was evidence enough.

She turned around to face a short purple Pokemon with large, diamond-like eyes. A Sableye! Though she had heard of them and seen them in her books, she had yet to encounter one in the wild. She had her Pokedex out of her pocket in a second.

"_Sableye: the Darkness Pokemon…"_

The Pokemon stared at them in what May had to assume was curiosity for a few seconds before opening its mouth in a hiss and revealing large fangs. Steven was staying oddly silent behind her, and she had to wonder if he was going to go into shock. Wild Pokemon encounters didn't exactly seem to be up his alley.

The Sableye moved into an attack position, and May's eyes widened. She wracked her brain. It was a dual-type dark and ghost, so it was weak to… fairy? Arceus, May hoped that was right.

"Linoone, use play rough!" she choked out, just as the purple Pokemon lunged towards her.

The ferret Pokemon intercepted the attack and tackled the creature to the ground just as Steven grabbed onto May's arm and yanked her back, making her drop her Pokedex. It crashed to the cave floor, bouncing a bit off to the side. The noise startled the Sableye, and it jumped out from underneath Linoone and landed on the ground where May had once been standing, staring at the piece of plastic. While its attention was diverted, Linoone delivered the blow. It had the desired effect. The wounded Sableye hissed at the ferret Pokemon before jumping back and retreating into the darkness.

In the confusion, May had somehow ended up on her butt on the ground.

Her Pokemon were all looking at her in shock at the quick commotion. Linoone was standing on its back feet, looking proud of itself. Though she was a bit winded, May laughed. After a second, her Pokemon all relaxed and returned to their spots around the fire.

Steven, still silent and now with a dark look on his face, reached a hand out to help her up. She took it warily, eyeing him up. Once she was on her feet, he dropped her hand as if it was scalding hot and retreated to the wall opposite of her. He leaned up against it, staring at his feet.

"You just proved my point," he eventually muttered, so quiet that May could hardly understand him.

"_Excuse_ me?" she demanded. "Your point of _what_? Nobody was in any danger, Steven. It was just a simple Pokemon battle. I do this kind of thing all the time."

"You could have gotten hurt!" he suddenly exclaimed, and May jumped at the volume. Steven finally looked up at her, and she was taken aback by the genuine pain and concern in his eyes.

"But I _wasn't_," she replied quietly. Steven didn't say anything, and eventually May sunk back down to the floor. She stroked Linoone's fur and listened to the rain, still pouring down outside.

When Steven finally spoke, May had been lulled into a sleepy daze by the warmth of the fire and his voice made her jump.

"My mother died when I was very young."

Her eyes snapped up to him immediately. Whatever she had been expecting him to say, it sure wasn't that. His eyes were closed, and he was still leaning up against the cave wall with his arms crossed over his chest and one ankle tucked behind the other. His business suit was covered in dirt, and his silver-blue hair, once wet from the rain, had dried in fluffy tufts and was sticking up in several places. It was difficult to take him so seriously like this, but with those words, there wasn't anything else she could do.

"Steven, I-"

"She was killed. By wild Pokemon."

Whatever May had planned to say suddenly escaped her throat. She was on her feet in a second, sending Linoone scrambling away. Her mouth was dry and her head was spinning. There was no way she had heard that right.

Luckily, Steven didn't expect her to respond before he continued. "It was back around when my father was about to inherit Devon. My mom had all of these ideas about doing Pokemon research and how learning about Pokemon was the best way to develop new technology for trainers."

The well-known Devon slogan played in May's head: _For all your living needs, we make it all._

"My mom wanted to know why Zangoose and Seviper hate each other so much," Steven continued. May felt her stomach drop. "But my father said it was too dangerous to research directly. So, she went out alone while he was at work. I guess she was watching a fight break out between the two species, and she fell down into their ravine. Her bag snagged on a tree, so she didn't have her Pokemon to defend her."

Steven finally opened his eyes. He smiled, a tired look that made May's chest hurt. Instead of sadness in his eyes, there was just nostalgia and loneliness.

"They found her body torn to shreds."

May didn't even think before moving. Before she even realized what she was doing, she had thrown herself against Steven, wrapping her arms around his neck. She tightened her hands into fists, fabric from the collar of his shirt clamped snugly in them. She felt, rather than heard, his intake of breath. Slowly, he raised shaking arms to wrap around her waist.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured against his suit jacket. The height difference between them was now clearer than ever. Her face was pressed in somewhere near his collar bone. She relaxed into his arms as he gently rested his head on hers.

"You remind me a lot of her," Steven said. She felt his breath hot on her ear, and she stiffened. "Or… I don't know. I don't really even remember her, but I feel like I do. It kills me to not know what's a memory and what's a story that my father told me."

May stepped back, and was surprised to feel reluctance as Steven released her. When she brought her arms down, his hand caught one of hers, squeezing tight. His fingers were cold. She didn't pull away.

"That's why I never became a trainer," Steven continued, once again smiling sadly. She locked eyes with him and felt that she couldn't look away, despite eye contact being something she had often struggled with. "My father became very protective over me after that- for good reason. The only reason I have Pokemon at all is because of my mom. My Metagross and Aggron were just a Beldum and Aron at the time; she had been wanting to raise them, and so they were left to me. I caught Skarmory by accident. It kept showing up in my backyard when I was a kid, and one day, it just didn't leave." A playful smile came to his face, and May mirrored it.

Still, the idea that Steven wasn't allowed to become a trainer because of that sent a wave of nausea over May. "Steven," she started slowly, knowing she should just bite her tongue. She didn't want to stir up any more bad memories. She had already caused enough trouble; now knowing why Steven was so wary around wild Pokemon, she couldn't believe the things she had said to him earlier. His hand squeezed around hers, reminding her that it was still there.

She finally tore her eyes away from his, looking down. "It… It's not fair of your father to prevent you from becoming a trainer. Is that what your mother would have wanted?"

She heard his sharp intake of breath, and his hand shook a bit in hers. "He had every right to keep me sheltered," he said shakily, his voice lower than usual. "It's dangerous out there!" She could feel his eyes practically burning through her, so she looked up at him through her bangs. "Which you fail to realize. That's why I'm so worried about you all the time. You're so… reckless."

May released his hand then, stepping back once more. She could feel the fire dangerously close to her bare leg, but the slight tingle from the heat served to ground her a bit more. Her head was still spinning, and she wasn't sure if it was from her being still-weak from the poison, or from the sudden influx of deep information about the man she hardly knew but still felt so close to.

"I don't try to be reckless," May mumbled, her voice as wobbly as her knees. "It just comes with being a trainer. You have to take risks for what you love."

Steven stayed oddly silent then, and May glanced up at him curiously. His eyes were trained on her, and the sheer intensity in them brought a blush to her cheeks.

"What?" she muttered, feigning annoyance and glancing away.

She jumped when he reached out and placed a soft hand on her cheek, cupping it, but after a second, she unconsciously leaned into the touch. Steven smiled when she did. His hand was still cold, but it felt refreshing against her skin; between the warmth of the fire and the intensity in the air, May was burning up.

"Just stop scaring me, okay?" Steven said quietly, smiling.

May frowned. Though both his smile and the happy look in his eyes were genuine, there was something off about it that May just couldn't put her finger on. "Okay," she affirmed anyway, returning his smile. His hand slipped down from her cheek, and she immediately felt too-hot once more.

Though there was a newfound silence in the air, it wasn't an uncomfortable one. Although May was still trying to process all that Steven had told her about his mother, she was past the initial shock of it and was now just pondering why he had trusted her with it- when, in fact, they had only met several times before.

The silence _did_ lead May to notice something, though. "The rain stopped," she observed, glancing in the direction of the cave opening.

"Oh, yeah," Steven agreed. May could detect a note of disappointment in his voice, though it stayed well-hidden. "I presume you're going to go challenge the gym now?"

_I want to stay here with him_, a part of May realized, and she was internally slapping herself. _No, I have to go challenge the gym, _she argued. _Why do I care so much, anyway? We just spent a good hour together. It's not like we're really that good of friends, or anything. _

She knew she was just lying to herself, but she didn't have time to think about it right now. Instead, she pushed the matter into the back of her head; she'd deal with it another day. "Yeah, I am," she confirmed, beaming- though her heart wasn't in it. "Six out of eight."

"You'll do great," Steven assured her, grinning. The reluctance was still somewhere in there, but lesser now. "I hope to see you around soon."

May's chest hurt at the obvious parting words, but she didn't let it show. "Yeah," she agreed with a smile. "You know, you always seem to turn up when I'm challenging gyms, so maybe I'll see you in Mossdeep."

Steven's grin grew. "I'd bet on it."

"Mossdeep it is, then," she promised.

"Maybe sooner," Steven said, slightly teasing. It felt almost… _flirtatious._

May's cheeks reddened. "Y-yeah," she stuttered. "Maybe sooner."

* * *

As expected, May defeated Winona will little trouble. Well, maybe a _tiny bit _of trouble; that damn Altaria with its roost _and_ cotton guard!

Nevertheless, May won the badge from an impressed Winona. May took immense pride in her Absol when the gym leader commented on how well its thunder attack was coming along. She graciously thanked the woman and excitedly rushed out of the gym.

Though it was late and she knew she should probably stay in the Pokemon Center overnight rather than make the long journey to the next town, she couldn't help herself but run out to the bridge where she and Steven had met earlier. The battle hadn't taken that long. It had really only been a few hours since they had first run into each other. Still, the day felt long, and those hours felt like weeks had passed.

Of course, Steven wasn't there. It was foolish of her to even imagine that he might have waited for her to finish her gym match. He was a grown man with a job and a life. She was probably just a child to him, anyway.

Still, she couldn't help but smile and shiver a bit in anticipation when thinking about his parting words. She reached into her to grab for a water bottle, but her hand hit the Blazikenite he had so kindly gifted to her earlier. Touching the stone sent a small wave of electricity through her. She smiled.

_Maybe sooner. _


End file.
